The Workplace Relations Commission recommended that an employer pay a worker a further €2,200 after finding he was treated unfairly when a job offer was withdrawn on his first day. The recommendation was dated 8 January 2025.
The worker had been interviewed for a sales representative role and received an employment contract on 3 July 2024. When he arrived to start work on 22 July, the managing director told him he should not have been hired. The worker said he had left his previous job for the role and lost €4,711 in wages.
The employer argued that the managing director had not authorised the hire and that the worker had voluntarily accepted a €2,500 settlement. The adjudication officer found there was a valid employment contract. The officer also found the hurried settlement, made without an opportunity to seek legal advice, diminished the worker’s ability to make an informed decision, but did not find serious duress as ordinarily defined.
The worker had already received €2,500. The officer recommended a further €2,200 for unfair treatment, noting that the worker’s inability to claim state support could not be attributed to the employer.