A worker who said his ex-boss slashed his rostered hours down to just one day a week and got "abusive" with him at a meeting has won nearly €8,000 in unpaid wages and compensation.
Craig O'Brien told the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) that businessman Zemari Jalilzad "berated" him in front of multiple colleagues at a meeting last September when he objected to the cut in hours, telling him: "Who are you? You are nothing, you are a dog."
The company then failed to send him his wages for the month of September on payday the following week, he said
The employment tribunal has found Mr Jalilzad’s wholesaling company, Jalilzad Electronics Ltd, in breach of the Payment of Wages Act 1991 and the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997 on foot of complaints by Mr O’Brien, in a decision published today.
After nobody representing the company dialled in for scheduled hearings by videoconference in May and July this year, the WRC heard the complaints in the absence of the respondent.
Mr O’Brien, who was represented by David Lane of McGroddy Brennan Solicitors in the case, had "many years’ experience in the retail and wholesale trade", in particular with household products, toys and seasonal stock, the tribunal noted.
The complainant told the tribunal he met Mr Jalilzad when the businessman came to buy up stock during the liquidation of his former employer. Mr Jalilzad had asked him at that stage to join him in establishing his business, he said.
Employer 'upset' and 'losing faith'
He prepared sales forecasts and a business plan, which Mr Jalilzad agreed to finance, he said. He then travelled to China on behalf of Mr Jalilzad to visit manufacturers of Halloween-related products with a view to supplying these to the Irish retail trade, he said.
In May 2024, he joined the company as general manager, on a salary of €50,000 per annum, he said.
He proceeded to set up a showroom in Dundalk for retailers to see stock, hired a website administrator, prepared a list of suppliers, and managed to pre-sell stock worth €150,000 to shops, he said.
Mr O’Brien said it became clear that "things wouldn’t work out" as Mr Jalilzad "insisted" on using a different supplier and "refused to budge" on this.
The complainant said the said the product range, price and quality from this supplier "wasn’t what customers wanted" and "not what he built the [sales] forecast around".
However, Mr Jalilzad "refused to pay deposits to the factories" and the stock Mr O’Brien had pre-sold was never delivered, leaving him to explain matters to the customers, the complainant said.
Mr O’Brien said his employer was "upset" about the failing sales figures and customers were "losing faith".
He was "constantly on the road trying to fix problems" in July and August 2024 arising from "communications issues with order picking", he said.
He told the tribunal he wrote to his employer outlining the problems with the business on 15 September last year, also expressing concerns about the company’s finances.
The complainant alleged that when he raised a concern on 25 September that the website administrator hadn't been paid, Mr Jalilzad "shouted abuse" at him over the phone.
'You are nothing, you are a dog'
On 30 September, Mr O’Brien said he met with the website administrator, Mr Jalilzad, an associate named Imam Jalil, and the businessman’s brother in an attempt to "resolve" matters.
He said there was a "cool start" to the meeting before Mr Jalilzad "became abusive" and told him that with immediate effect he was "only required to work one day a week".
Mr O’Brien said he challenged Mr Jalilzad’s right to change his terms of employment "without discussion", upon which Mr Jalilzad "berated" him and said: "Who are you? You are nothing, you are a dog."
The businessman sent him a letter later that day cutting his working week from five days to one day a week as a "temporary change".
Mr O’Brien’s payslip for September arrived on 1 October, recording gross wages of €4,166.66, but "no money was transferred", Mr O’Brien told the WRC.
When he wrote looking for the wages, Mr Jalil replied by email stating: "Please let us know if you are available to work one day a week," the tribunal was told. Mr O’Brien said he heard nothing from the firm about what duties he was to perform.
Wages 'unlawfully deducted'
Mr O’Brien said his employment ended on 31 October when it "became clear" the managing director wasn’t going to pay his wages or have "any contact" with him.
In her decision, adjudicator Catherine Byrne said it was "entirely unacceptable" that the company had failed to consult Mr O’Brien about the cut to his hours and decided on it without his agreement, the company was not in breach of the Terms of Employment (Information) Act 1994 in that regard.
She also found there was "no requirement" for pay in lieu of notice in circumstances where the complainant – who had just six months’ service at the time - considered himself to have been "constructively dismissed" due to his employer’s conduct.
However, Ms Byrne ruled that the company was nevertheless liable for Mr O’Brien’s wages for both September and October 2024, and ordered it to pay him €3,078.86 in tax-free compensation for both months, based on the net value of his full-time wages for the period.
The wages had been "unlawfully deducted" in breach of the Payment of Wages Act 1991, she ruled.
She also found Mr O’Brien had been deprived of eight days’ accrued annual leave in breach of the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997, awarding him a further €1,731.60 in compensation.
