The Complainant worked as a Manager with the Respondent since March 2007. In February 2019, the Complainant filed a complaint before the WRC that he had been discriminated against on age grounds and unlawfully discriminated against in conditions of employment.

The Complainant submitted that he would be compelled to retire in April 2018 as he would be turning 60. He had made two applications to extend his employment and the Respondent refused the applications both times. The Complainant maintained that the denial of the contract extension which was available to other employees was part of the ongoing bullying and harassment from his Manager.

The Complainant’s representative submitted that he had been wrongly denied his habitual annual salary raise for 2018. He contended that he had been denied his salary increase because of bullying at the hands of his Manager.

The Respondent denied that the Complainant had been discriminated against and concluded that the claim was moot. The Respondent argued that the Complainant had no contractual entitlement to an annual salary increase in 2019. These amounts were paid at the absolute discretion of the employer and were non-contractual.  The Complainant was also offered an extension of his tenure by means of a 1-year contract. Therefore, the Adjudication Officer determined that this complaint was misconceived.

However, given that the Complainant’s store performed to a satisfactory target, the Adjudication Officer found that the Complainant was unreasonably excluded from the application of the award in relation to overall store performance. Accordingly, the Respondent was ordered to pay the Complainant €300 as his annual salary increase for 2018.
https://www.workplacerelations.ie/en/cases/2019/november/adj-00019718.html