Kildare singer's company ordered to pay €44K over work dispute

CASTLEDERMOT’S favourite country singer Michael English (45) was directed to stump up nearly €44,000 in a settlement with a Donegal fiddle player, following a ruling by the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) last week.

The WRC ruled that Matthew McGranaghan was an employee of MEPC Music — the firm that runs English’s career — despite the company claiming that he was a self-employed contractor, and then unfairly dismissing him.

The WRC agreed with McGranaghan that he was an employee of the company, despite counter-claims by MEPC that he was a self-employed contractor.

Mr McGranaghan from Castlefinn, Co Donegal, took his claim after being dismissed in September 2021, where he had worked since 2013, earning €280 per gig, with an average of four shows a week.

Issues began as early as August 2014 the the Castlefinn man had his first disagreement with the band’s manager, Paul Claffey, who was trying to stop overnight accommodation after concerts, and was asked twice by Mr English over the next few years if he was happy in the band.

Mr McGranaghan said he’d heard about the issue of bogus self-employment in late 2018, which he felt could apply to his own situation, and said he and other band members were given an offer of talking to a tax advisor after he had asked about becoming an employee in February 2019. When Covid stopped touring, Mr McGranahan had his employment status investigated by the Department of Social Protection which determined he was an employee. However when was asked to resume touring in August 2021, he was told that “band members becoming employees was not an option”.

Adjudication Officer Caroline Reidy awarded the fiddle player compensation of €26,880 for being unfairly dismissed, another €5,000 for receiving no holidays or annual leave and €1,500 for not getting any public holiday entitlements.

For failing to provide the complainant with a written contract, MEPC Music was ordered to pay him €500 as well as €4,480 for failing to provide him with minimum notice.

He was granted a further €1,000 for failure to be paid for working Sundays, and another €4,480 for payment in lieu of notice of termination, all of which came to a total of €43,840.