WRC hearing

Enter name here

Based on what the OP has said, there was no contract and no acknowledgement of maternity leave being granted either I would suppose. There for in the eyes of the company they will simply claim your partner left the company of her own accord prior to the closing down of the branch, there for negating the exposure to having to pay redundancy. Best case scenario your partner may receive the accrued holiday pay if past due but that would be the extent of the settlement. That is why a solicitor wouldn't touch it as it is hardly worth pursuing from that stand point.

An Ri rua

beggars_bush wrote: »

Yeah. Both were trading under the same name. The other branch that is open has the same company name.

Trading as means nothing for the purposes of your bringing an entity to court. It's the legal entity that is trading as that you must pursue. You need to be sure of your terminology and pay close attention to posters' suggestions in this regard.
Trading as is a brand, a calling card. You must register to use it as a business name. But it means nothing legally. The entity behind it must still be trading. Or you'll have no case.

beggars_bush

Enter name here wrote: »

Based on what the OP has said, there was no contract and no acknowledgement of maternity leave being granted either I would suppose. There for in the eyes of the company they will simply claim your partner left the company of her own accord prior to the closing down of the branch, there for negating the exposure to having to pay redundancy. Best case scenario your partner may receive the accrued holiday pay if past due but that would be the extent of the settlement. That is why a solicitor wouldn't touch it as it is hardly worth pursuing from that stand point.

equality act discrimination due to maternity leave
maternity act discrimination

she has a contract from the previous employer before it changed hands. under TUPE that should be covered.

and yes thanks Red Hare, I'm well aware of the Supreme Court ruling on sworn statements and a public hearing. Would love the chance to bring in that ruling.

Enter name here

beggars_bush wrote: »

equality act discrimination due to maternity leave
maternity act discrimination

she has a contract from the previous employer before it changed hands. under TUPE that should be covered.

and yes thanks Red Hare, I'm well aware of the Supreme Court ruling on sworn statements and a public hearing. Would love the chance to bring in that ruling.

No discrimination if she is deemed a non employee. And you said initially she had no contract now you saying she does? Be clear about the facts at the WRC and not hearsay.

Does she have a contract? If not your words against there's.
Does she have an approved maternity leave form?. If not the rest of your discrimination and redundancy is null and void. Hearsay from employees more likely than not will not be considered and any half decent legal representative will show that.

beggars_bush

Enter name here wrote: »

No discrimination if she is deemed a non employee. And you said initially she had no contract now you saying she does? Be clear about the facts at the WRC and not hearsay.

Does she have a contract? If not your words against there's.
Does she have an approved maternity leave form?. If not the rest of your discrimination and redundancy is null and void. Hearsay from employees more likely than not will not be considered and any half decent legal representative will show that.

yes, we have maternity form and extended maternity form both filled out and stamped
the contract is from previous owner and business changed hands so previous contract should transfer over under TUPE

Enter name here

beggars_bush wrote: »

yes, we have maternity form and extended maternity form both filled out and stamped
the contract is from previous owner and business changed hands so previous contract should transfer over under TUPE

That's completely different from what you stated in your original post. See how much the outcome can change when the facts are laid out. Good luck with it

beggars_bush

Enter name here wrote: »

That's completely different from what you stated in your original post. See how much the outcome can change when the facts are laid out. Good luck with it

Anyway, it seems to have gone well. 2 and a half hours of argument

Enter name here

So what was the outcome?

Red Hare

Its too soon to tell the outcome. It could be months before they know. please let us know.:)

beggars_bush

We won our case on almost all complaints made.

Thanks to all here for their helpful advice

Red Hare

I am delighted for you and your other half. Thanks for letting us know here - its nice to hear good news!

AndrzejL

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/116669168#Comment_116669168

Hi, just to chime in I was in a situation where my boss wouldn't allow me to take sick days in February this year, the sickness got progressively worse and I was hospitalised in April with heavy respiratory infection, liquid in lungs and heart issues. I was advised to complain to WRC about it.

I met with solicitor in Dublin, they said "IF we take your case its going to be on a NO WIN NO FEE basis". Few months later I received a call - "Yes we are filing a 'Negligence' WRC complaint form in your name - do you wish to proceed?". I thought to myself "IF they don't take money unless they win they must be confident in winning - I have a solid case and a lawyer has my back..." so I said I wanted to proceed with the whole thing.

They filled the complaint. Recently (29th November) I received e-mail from WRC with the mediation date. They asked to confirm that the date is suitable. I asked my solicitor if the date suits them and if they are going to be present during the process. I was told that the decision will be made and I will be informed. Waited few days. The final date to reply to the mediation date and accepting it was today (5th December) and I have not heard from my solicitor so I assumed they wanted me to skip mediation and go straight for the adjudication but just to confirm I got in touch with my solicitor and was told via e-mail that "We are happy to represent you in the mediation however we will require a small fee of €1,000 before we attend."

So I rang and asked about a "NO WIN NO FEE" thing. I was was told that to have solicitor present they would have to get someone (they are based in Dublin and hearing will be in Limerick) local to represent me. I asked them then IF I should skip the mediation and go for the adjudication instead. I was told it would look bad and during the adjudication hearing I could be told I was not willing to participate in mediation proceedings. So I asked them if they would represent me during the adjudication process. I was told that they would ask for a small fee just like during the mediation hearing...

"No win no fee" my backside.

Basically I do not have €1000. Not mentioning €2000. My confidence in the case is shattered because my only reason to proceed with the case was as I mentioned before 1) Lawyer said he will represent me on NO WIN NO FEE basis 2) Lawyer said he is confident the case is a winning one. Since they are asking for fees now - I think they no longer believe that i can win and they want to get paid upfront and to avoid losses.

I will be attending mediation hearing alone and I believe that I will get creamcrackered in there. We will see.

Just wanted to let you know what a "NO WIN NO FEE" really means.

Another thing I wanted to mention is: Try googling "free wrc lawyer Ireland employees" because the only thing that comes up is a free WRC advice for employers. My employer is well off. He does not need a free lawyer. I do. I guess I am attached to another object by an inclined plane, wrapped helically around an axis.

Another thing - the whole conversation with my solicitor in Dublin - that happened verbally. There was no written contract. This reminds me that verbal agreement is worth as much as the paper it was written on.

I guess I will get exactly what I paid for...

Cheers.

Andrzej

beggars_bush

We had our research done on all the pieces of legislation and had researched a load of previous WRC cases and Labour court cases with similar background and how they favoured the complainant.

I had counter arguments to anything the opposing representative could say and they got success on two points that were raised

Our biggest regret was not filing a discrimination case based on the maternity leave as that would have been a bigger award

Best of luck with it

AndrzejL

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119960888#Comment_119960888

Thank you. I will need it.

Kindest regards.

Andrzej