The Gazette 1982

CIA/E T N

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 1982

Annual Report of Employment Appeals Tribunal

T he Thirteenth Annual Report of the Employment Appeals Tribunal describes the activities of the Tribunal during the year ended 31st December 1980. The Tribunal acts in divisions, each division consisting of either the Chairman or a Vice-Chairman and two ordinary members, one drawn from the Employer's side of the panel and one from the Trade Unions' side. More than one division may sit on the same day. Claims and appeals are heard in public unless the Tribunal, at its discretion, decides that the hearing be private. Number of Claims and Appeals The Total number of claims and appeals referred to the Tribunal in 1980 was 2,478 (754 claims under the Unfair Dismissals Act, 676 appeals under the Redundancy Payments Acts and 1,048 appeals under the Minimum Notice and Terms of Employment Act). This total represents an increase of approximately 75% on the 1979 total of 1,410 (402 under the Unfair Dismissals Act, 504 under the Redundancy Payments Acts and 504 under the Minimum Notice and Terms of Employment Act). Unfair Dismissals Act 1977 Of the 754 claims referred to the Tribunal under the Unfair Dismissals Act, 685 were direct claims to the Tribunal and 69 were appeals from the recom- mendations of Rights Commissioners. The claimants in 411 of the 682 direct appeals also claimed under either the Redundancy Payments Acts or the Minimum Notice and Terms of Employment Act. 249 of the claimants appealed under the three Acts. Of the 69 appeals against the recommendations of Rights Commissioners, 37 were appeals by employees and 32 by employers. Of the 69 appeals, 36 recommendations were upheld, 10 were rejected, I was varied and 19 appeals were withdrawn before or during hearing. 3 appeals Were awaiting a hearing on the 31st December, 1980. In all 488 claims were disposed of in the year under review. 115 claims were allowed, 185 were dismissed, 81 were withdrawn during hearing and the remaining 107 were disposed of without a Hearing. The Tribunal awarded compensation in 87 cases, amounting to £150,706.00, an average of £1,732.25 per case. Re- instatement was ordered in 21 cases and re-engagement was ordered in one case. No compensation was awarded to six claimants who were found to have been fairly dismissed. Redundancy Payments Acts The majority of the 676 appeals referred to the Tribunal under this Act were appeals by employees for redundancy payments on the grounds that they were dismissed by reason of redundancy. 184 appeals were

made by employees against the decisions of Deciding Officers on the question of weekly payments, which were abolished under the Redundancy Payments Act, 1979. There were a few appeals from employers from decisions of the Minister for Labour relating to their entitlement to rebate. The remainder related to disputes on questions of continuity of employment, transfers of business, lay-off and short time working, amount of outgoing weekly wage, offers of alternative employment etc. Minimum Notice and Terms of Employment Act, 1973 The 1,048 appeals referred to the Tribunal under this Act were claims by dismissed employees for compensation for loss sustained by them by reason of their employers' failure to give them the notice required by Section 4 of this Act. 382 appeals were allowed; 192 were dismissed; 50 were withdrawn during hearing and 148 were disposed of without a hearing. In all, 772 appeals were disposed of by the Tribunal. Number of Tribunal Sittings In 1980, divisions of the Tribunal sat (sometimes simultaneously) on 244 days at 72 different venues throughout the 26 counties. On 146 of these days, two or more divisions of the Tribunal sat. The total number of sittings was 423, an increase of 14% approximately on the 1979 total of 371. 240 sittings were in Dublin and 183 were in the Provinces. The number of sittings at the different venues varied from one to 240. Delay in Hearing Appeals The delay in hearing appeals on the 31st December, 1980 was approximately eighteen weeks. The increasing delay in hearing appeals was due to the 75% increase in the number of appeals referred to the Tribunal; the time taken to hear appeals under the Unfair Dismissals Act and to some extent to adjournments. The increasing involvement of the legal profession, which has occurred mainly in claims under the Unfair Dismissals Act, has tended to extend the hearing time of such claims. While the Tribunal normally allows minimum of a half day to each unfair dismissal claim, the duration of the hearing in a number of cases has extended over several days and, in a small number of cases, over more than seven days. Adjournments Applications for the adjournment of listed cases are only granted for grave cause and when sought promptly after the notice of hearing has been sent to each party. Nevertheless, in 1980, by reason of adjournments, the Tribunal found itself with no cases 9