Cognito HRM, a software enterprise based in Cork, admitted its inability to honour the outstanding €2,125 contractual notice pay to a dismissed employee, due to its financial instability caused by loss of funding from Enterprise Ireland in the previous year. During the Workplace Relations Commission inquiry on Wednesday, Denis Coleman, the CEO of Cognito HRM, confessed that the employee’s contract necessitated a four-week notice period, however, only a week’s notice was given citing financial constraints.
The aggrieved employee, Amy Horgan, erstwhile Business Development Manager, claimed that she has been financially disadvantaged. Alongside delays in her final paycheck, she received no written testament of her termination in July 2023, which could have been utilised for a jobseeker’s allowance application. Unpaid wages for June and holiday pay further fuelled her financial woes.
Amy did receive her last paycheck, including a designated amount for accumulated holiday entitlements, on the 24th of July of the same year. However, this came nearly a month behind schedule according to her. Under the Payment of Wages Act 1991 and the Minimum Notice and Terms of Employment Act 1973, Amy alleges she is still owed the €2,125 in outstanding notice pay plus a further €1,997.99 as commission.
During the tribunal, Amy revealed to Mr Coleman that the company’s action left many employees without earnings for almost a month without explicative reasons. Coleman shared how payroll was issued from his personal bank account in July 2023 as that was the only feasible way to get employees paid. Apologising for the company’s plight, he expressed his shared disappointment with Amy and everyone else affected by the business’s predicament.
The presiding Adjudication Officer, Úna Glazier-Farmer, will announce her verdict in writing to the concerned parties in due time.