RTÉ knocks back worker’s claims for pension and pay entitlements

The worker, who does not want to be named, said their solicitor wrote to the broadcaster after a government department investigation found they should have been classified as an employee.

RTÉ had appealed the Department of Social Protection decision, but the worker said the Social Welfare Appeals Office had upheld it.

The worker said their solicitor then wrote to RTÉ lodging claims for employee entitlements, including a pension, annual leave, and lost pay increments.

In a letter to the worker seen by the Irish Independent, legal firm Arthur Cox said government social welfare bodies could decide an individual’s appropriate class of PRSI.

But it says there are “no further legal implications” of a decision of the Department of Social Protection’s Scope section or the Social Welfare Office.

“The suggestion that the decision of the Social Welfare Appeals Office has a greater impact or provides any basis for the claims now made on behalf of your client are entirely misconceived,” said the letter. It said it had been instructed to “vigorously defend any proceedings”.

“HR has more or less said it is not going to give me my job entitlements for the years that Scope made a decision on,” said the worker. “But why would RTÉ be paying PRSI for someone that wasn’t an employee?

“If I am an employee, surely I am entitled to the same entitlements as every other employee. It’s that simple. They’re basically putting it up to us to come to court and we’ll fight you tooth and nail.”

The worker said those caught up in the bogus self-employment scandal at RTÉ were concerned about time limits for taking cases to the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC), and caps on the amount of compensation they could win.

“The pension is a big thing,” said the worker. “Others are keen to have their contracts backdated to the date when they started work, so if they were made redundant those years are counted in any redundancy payment.”

A spokesperson for RTÉ said it is working hard to resolve the outstanding Scope cases. “Any appeal is on the basis that there has potentially been a mistake made on facts or in law,” he said.

“As previously stated, Kevin Bakhurst (RTÉ director general) is on record as saying that RTÉ will do what it can to address issues relating to individuals contracted by RTÉ and who should have been given employee status.”

Employer law solicitor Barry ­Crushell said he had seen a “proliferation” of individuals wrongly classified as contractors. He said the WRC could take a different view to the department on whether someone was an employee.

“If an individual believes their arrangements more closely align with an employer-employee relationship and they have missed out on contractual, legal or statutory entitlements, they should only withdraw those complaints or actions if they are certain that there is a negligible chance of a successful outcome.”