Section 44(4) of the WorkplaceRelations Act, 2015 (the “Act”) which provides for the appeal of decisions ofthe Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) to the Labour Court, was recentlyconsidered in the context of a refusal by the Labour Court to hear an appealdue to a missed deadline.
Background
This particular case involved a WRCdecision against Ms Josephine Kenny’s claim of unfair dismissal dated 28 April2016.
Ms Kenny issued an appeal againstthe Adjudication Officer’s decision by notice received by the Labour Court on 9June 2016. Section 44(3) of the Act provides that an appeal “shall be givento the Labour Court not later than 42 days from the date of the decisionconcerned“. The Labour Court concluded it had no jurisdiction to hear theappeal as the appeal should have been received by them one day earlier, i.e. 8June 2016. The claimant informed the Labour Court that she had engaged theservices of and was advised on the appeal by the Citizens Information Servicein Co. Longford (CIS). The claimant noted that the reason for not meeting thedeadline was that it was assumed that the timeframe for appeal was”post” the original decision and not “from” the date of theoriginal decision.
Thelaw
Under Section 44(3) of the Act anappeal of a WRC decision to the Labour Court should be made not later than 42days from the date of the decision. Section 44(4) provides that this 42 daylimit can only be extended “due to the existence of exceptionalcircumstances“. When calculating the 42 days, it is important to note thatthe date of the decision must be counted as “day one”.
Decision
It was deemed that themiscalculation of the appeal’s deadline did not amount to “exceptionalcircumstances” as per section 44(4) of the Act. The Labour Court notedthat the miscalculation of time in this case was “akin to amisinterpretation of the statutory provisions“. Accordingly, the LabourCourt held that it had no jurisdiction to hear the appeal.
Comment
The case highlights the fact thatthe Labour Court will not allow ignorance as to the timeframe to be relied uponto amount to “exceptional circumstances” when a party is seeking anextension of time in order to lodge an appeal. This strict interpretation ofthe statutory provisions serves as a warning to practitioners as to theimportance of calculating the correct amount of time for filing an appealagainst the decision of the WRC.
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Contributed by CatherineO’Flynn and AedínBrennan
