Galway Metal driver awarded €2,753.12 after WRC upholds terms complaint

A Galway truck driver was awarded €2,753.12 after the Workplace Relations Commission found Galway Metal Company Limited had failed to provide him with written terms of employment. The WRC decision was dated 14 July 2023. Eamon Colman Killilea also challenged his selection for redundancy, arguing that the process was unfair and predetermined. The company said the Covid-19 downturn had created a genuine need to reduce driver positions and that the selection process was fair. The WRC accepted that the company’s turnover had fallen 49% year on year in the second quarter of 2020 and that four of 13 driver roles had to go. It found the selection criteria fair and objective, despite a misleading heading in the scoring matrix, and declared the unfair dismissal complaint not well founded. The company conceded it had not given Killilea a written statement of his terms and conditions. The WRC found that complaint well founded and awarded compensation equal to four weeks’ remuneration. The award was €2,753.12.