WRC finds Wayne Timmons was not unfairly dismissed by Clare County Council

The Workplace Relations Commission found Wayne Timmons was not unfairly dismissed by Clare County Council, in a decision dated 8 September 2023. Timmons had worked seasonally as a lifeguard for the Council for more than ten years. He complained after it did not re-employ him for the 2022 season, arguing that it relied on a warning and allegations about his sick leave without giving him a fair opportunity to respond. The Council argued that no dismissal had occurred and that the complaint was out of time. The WRC found that Timmons’s employment ended in September 2021 and the complaint was outside the six-month time limit. It said it had no jurisdiction to consider the substance of his complaint, although its operative decision states that he was not unfairly dismissed.