RTÉ request for legal clarity delays bogus self-employment case until autumn

Video editor Maebh Keary di Lucia, who has worked with the broadcaster since 2004, has sought compensation from RTÉ for a six-and-a-half-year period in which she worked as a self-employed contractor before being made a full-time employee in 2011. File picture: Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin

An RTÉ bogus self-employment case has been delayed until later this year by the Workplace Relations Commission after the broadcaster sought legal clarity regarding the claim.

Video editor Maebh Keary di Lucia, who has worked with the broadcaster since 2004, has sought compensation from RTÉ for a six-and-a-half-year period in which she worked as a self-employed contractor before being made a full-time employee in 2011.

Bogus self-employment refers to a situation where a worker is treated as self-employed despite performing the same tasks and functions as a full-time employee, thus losing out on PAYE employee benefits including holiday, sick pay and pension contributions.

Ms Keary has alleged that the total losses in terms of unpaid entitlements she incurred amount to €435,842.

Preliminary matters

Her case at the WRC, seeking restitution under the relevant employment legislation, had been due for hearing on Wednesday morning. However, WRC adjudicating officer Christina Ryan first dealt with the matter of three preliminary issues filed by solicitors for RTÉ Arthur Cox on Tuesday evening.

Those preliminary matters sought clarity regarding whether or not the case falls outside the statute of limitations, and requesting that the complaint be “particularised”, that is, that the time and nature of each of RTÉ’s alleged breaches be specifically documented.

Ordinarily there is a six-month statute of limitations at the WRC for civil cases. However, those taking bogus self-employment cases have argued that given the cases refer to breaches involving Social Protection and Revenue legislation, that time limit does not apply.

Having heard submissions from both sides, Ms Ryan concluded that the 10 complaints made to the WRC in Ms Keary’s case last September comprised a series of “broad allegations”, adding that she was satisfied the complaint form “is significantly lacking in detail”.

WRC ruling

“I am going to require clarification in relation to the 10 complaints, and in particular the relevant dates of the alleged contravention of each piece of legislation,” she said, after she rose for a short period to consider the matter.

Ms Keary objected to that ruling, stating that the WRC had not informed her that she would be expected to reply to further submissions ahead of the hearing.

“This is very, very stressful on me, that I’ve had to go through this yet again,” she said, noting that the case of her employment status has already been found in her favour by the Scope section of the Department of Social Protection, and then upheld by that department’s welfare appeals office after RTÉ appealed the Scope decision.

Representing Ms Keary, activist Martin McMahon disputed the need to delay the hearing, arguing that what was being requested by RTÉ amounted to niche legal matters which the WRC was ill-suited to rule upon.

He argued that  RTÉ has further waived the time limits applicable to the WRC action given the broadcaster has stated publicly that it will “do what it can” for its historical bogus self-employed workers.

Subsequent to Ms Ryan’s decision, Mr McMahon requested 12 weeks for Ms Keary to produce the detailed submissions which RTE had requested. With Arthur Cox asking that it be allowed until the end of July to respond to those submissions, the case will likely now not be heard until the autumn at the earliest.