Kildare tree surgeon awarded over €11K in redundancy payment

A KILDARE tree surgeon who said he was left without work and unpaid redundancy after being placed on temporary lay-off has been found entitled to a statutory redundancy payment of approximately €11,076 following a Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) hearing.

The complaint brought by John Smith against Lullymore Ecology Limited under the Redundancy Payments Act.

Mr Smith told the hearing that he had worked as a tree surgeon for the company since 31 January 2016 and earned gross weekly wages of €872.85.

He said that in October 2024 he was informed in writing that he was being placed on temporary lay-off from 21 October 2024. 

According to his evidence, he was not provided with any further work and had not received a statutory redundancy payment.

The WRC hearing took place in Carlow last month where Mr Smith attended and gave evidence.

However, there was no representative from the Kildare business, Lullymore Ecology Limited, at the hearing.

The adjudication officer noted that the hearing notice had been sent by registered post to the address of the company contained on the lay-off letter issued to Mr Smith.

In his findings, the adjudication officer said that, based on Mr Smith's uncontested evidence, his employment had been terminated by reason of redundancy within the meaning of the Redundancy Payments Acts 1967–2022.

The WRC found that Mr Smith was entitled to a redundancy lump-sum payment based on employment from 31 January 2016 to 21 October 2024, a period of over eight and a half years.

While his gross weekly remuneration was recorded as €872.85, the WRC confirmed that the weekly figure used for the statutory redundancy calculation was capped at €600.

Therefore, the respondent was required to pay out approximately €11,076 to Mr Smith by way of redundancy payment.