A courier firm has been ordered to repay a former driver after finding his termination pay was unlawfully docked for damage done to a work van by a colleague.
Luke O'Riordan was also awarded €3,000 for loss of earnings after the Workplace Relations Commission found he was unfairly sacked in February 2020 by Advanced Distribution Logistics Limited, formerly trading from an address on the Cork Road, Midleton, Co Cork.
Accountant Myles Kirby was appointed to liquidate the company in August 2020 and informed the commission the day before the adjudication hearing that it would not attend or offer a defence.
Giving evidence, Mr O’Riordan said on the day of his dismissal he was challenged by a manager about his personal use of the company van during his lunch break.
When he got back to the depot at 4pm, he was approached by the manager and a new driver at the firm, who was described as a “mediator”, Mr O’Riordan said. The manager asked the second driver to witness the conversation and dismissed Mr O’Riordan on the spot.
Mr O’Riordan said he wrote to Advanced Distribution Logistics the following day asking to appeal the decision, but the firm’s response on March 3rd, 2020, made it clear no appeal or further consideration would be given.
“It was clear that the respondent was deficient when it came to the application of fair procedures in making the decision to dismiss,” wrote adjudication officer Thomas O’Driscoll.
He ordered the firm to compensate him with six weeks’ net wages, totalling €3,000. He also awarded a further week’s pay, another €540, for the firm’s failure to provide the minimum notice of one week due to Mr O’Riordan.
Unlawful deductions
Mr O’Riordan also told the commission that some time prior to his dismissal he had agreed to pay for the damage caused to his company van in a minor accident he took responsibility for. He agreed with the company to pay €300 over the course of 10 weeks by having his salary docked by €30.
But when he was fired, his final pay packet included another deduction of €640 – which his employer claimed was the balance of a repair bill of €1,021. Mr O’Riordan gave evidence that the bill was for an accident a colleague had been involved in and was already being taken from his colleague’s wages.
He also said he was held accountable for a missing parcel and had another €100 deducted from his pay.
Mr O’Driscoll said Mr O’Riordan’s evidence was “cogent, albeit uncontested”.
He found both deductions were in contravention of the Payment of Wages Act, and ordered the firm to pay Mr O’Riordan a further €740 – bringing the total sum awarded to €4,280.
