In the cases of Giancarlo Riozzi v Northway Personnel (ADJ-00047292) (the “First Case”) and Krzysztof Wisiniewski v Fohntechgroup (ADJ-00049834) (the “Second Case”) both Complainants lodged complaints with the Workplace Relations Commission (“WRC”) under Section 39 of the Redundancy Payments Act 1967–2014 (the “Acts”) seeking statutory redundancy payments on foot of initially being laid off, and ultimately dismissed. In both cases they were offered alternative employment which they turned down.

Facts: In the First Case, the Complainant had been a Supervisor of a construction site in Clonee on the border of County Meath and Dublin from 3^rd January 2017 until 26^th May 2023 when he was laid off, due to the work on that site having neared completion. He lived in Navan, Co. Meath. He was offered a position as a General Operative in Kilkenny almost immediately. He rejected this on the basis that it would have involved seven hours of travel each day and there was no suitable public transport. He also told the Respondent that he “would require a supervisor role”.  The Respondent explained to him that these roles often develop on site and there was scope for him to establish himself as a Supervisor on the site in time. It was also confirmed to him that his rate of pay would not change if he accepted the position on offer. The Complainant served an RP9 form on the Respondent seeking a statutory redundancy payment. The Respondent asked the Complainant to reconsider the offer made to him. The Respondent also offered the Complainant General Operative and Snagger positions in Blessington and Greystones in November 2023. The Complainant’s position was that the offers were not reasonable or suitable to his circumstances.

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