RTÉ accused of 'sharp practice' over pay claim by former bogus self-employed worker
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RTÉ has been accused of engaging in “sharp practice” by challenging a claim for retrospective pay and holiday entitlements by a former bogus self-employed worker at the station at a hearing before the Workplace Relations Commission.
RTÉ employee, Joseph Kelly — who was staffed by the broadcaster in 2018 — is seeking pay and compensation for entitlements foregone over a six-year period from 2012 when he worked at the station in a bogus self-employed capacity.
Mr Kelly, who works as a newsroom co-ordinator, has lodged a total of eight complaints against RTÉ with the WRC in relation to alleged breaches of employment legislation, including the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997 which stipulates rules on Sunday work and holidays.
At the outset of a hearing in the case on Thursday, a solicitor for RTÉ claimed the complaints were not within the jurisdiction of the WRC as they related to a period before Mr Kelly was an employee of the broadcaster.
Séamus Given of Arthur Cox LLP argued the lodging of the complaints was outside the six-month time limit for cases to be eligible to be heard by the WRC. He also complained that Mr Kelly had not provided any submission with details of his complaints.
However, a lay advisor for Mr Kelly, Martin McMahon, accused RTÉ of adopting a “completely contradictory” position at the WRC to written commitments and public promises that it would compensate individuals for any losses they had suffered as a result of being misclassified as bogus self-employed workers.
Mr McMahon alluded to a report by legal firm, Eversheds Sutherland, in 2018 which revealed that up to 157 workers at RTÉ had been wrongly classified as self-employed. It subsequently emerged that the station was examining over 700 cases where workers who were hired as contractors could have been entitled to employee status.
Mr McMahon said the chair of the RTÉ board, Terence O’Rourke, had made a statement to the Oireachtas Media Committee that RTÉ would comply with the findings of an expert report on the issue of bogus self-employed workers.
He said the station had given an ongoing commitment to Mr Kelly that the issue would be resolved and people would be compensated for money they had lost as a result of being misclassified as bogus self-employed. Mr McMahon said it was “a bit rich” and “sharp practice” for RTÉ to now be challenging Mr Kelly’s complaints to the WRC.
He accused the State broadcaster of “drawing an imaginary line in the sand” by claiming the complainant was not entitled to anything before he became an employee of the station in 2018.
In reply, Mr Given claimed the opposing side was “making comments of a soapbox variety for the media”. The solicitor said the complainant was treating the WRC process “with a degree of disdain”.
He pointed out that Mr Kelly has been an employee of RTÉ since November 2018 and the WRC could not deal with events before that date.
He added:
Mr Given said he was submitting the WRC should dismiss the case for want of jurisdiction. However, Mr McMahon said Mr Kelly was not informed of the process whereby RTÉ was trying to regularise the position of bogus self-employed staff with the Department of Social Protection since 2021 or its implications.
He claimed the misclassification of Mr Kelly’s employment status implied he was an employee of RTÉ for the relevant period of the claim before the WRC.
“Joseph is exercising his rights and looking for what he is owed by RTÉ,” he observed.
Mr McMahon, who co-hosts the popular podcast, said RTÉ had made promises that it would pay back money owed to all bogus self-employed workers. He added: “But it has not happened.”
The advisor said it was “not acceptable” for RTÉ to promise to follow the recommendations of an expert report in relation to bogus self-employed workers and now claim Mr Kelly’s case was “out of time”.
WRC adjudication officer, John Harraghy, adjourned the hearing on the basis that there was a significant lack of details in the complaint documents filed by Mr Kelly. He directed that a detailed submission should be lodged by the complainant before January 31, 2025, with the right of RTÉ to file a submission in response.