The Complainant commenced employment as a Manager in the Respondent’s public house in 1999.   His employment was terminated on the 20th of November 2018, when his previous employer leased the premises to the Respondent. However, in early December 2018, the Complainant decided to come back to work. He was subsequently dismissed by the Respondent in January 2020. The Complainant said that he never received any document in writing setting out the details of his terms and conditions of employment. The Respondent did not dispute this evidence.

Following differences regarding what he considered to be a staff shortage in Christmas 2019, the Complainant threatened to resign. In the end, the Complainant was given notice of the termination of his employment. The Complainant contended that his dismissal was unfair or, in the alternative, that his job was made redundant and he was entitled to a redundancy lump sum. The Respondent maintains that the Complainant resigned from his position.

The Complainant submitted that he was concerned and frustrated about the staff shortages and he complained to the Respondent by stating “this is far too much for one man.” He claimed that he said that if the situation wasn’t sorted out, he would be “out of here after Christmas.” The Complainant strongly denied that these words constituted a resignation.

The Adjudication Officer opined that the reason the Complainant was dismissed was because of the fact that the cost of labour in the pub was out of line with what the Respondent expected to pay and what he thought he could afford.   The Complainant’s dismissal was not in response to any action or conduct on his part but was associated with the fact that his job was eliminated. All of the facts point to the Respondent having terminated the employment of the complainant due to redundancy.  The Adjudication Officer determined that the TUPE regulations applied to the change of ownership and the Complainant therefore had continuity of employment from 1999.

Therefore, the Respondent was ordered to pay the Complainant the Statutory Redundancy entitlement. The Respondent was also ordered to pay the Complainant compensation in the sum of €4,825 for failing to provide the Complainant with a statement concerning his terms and conditions of employment as governed under the Terms of Employment (Information) Act.
https://www.workplacerelations.ie/en/cases/2020/october/adj-00026363.html