Redundancy Payments Act, 1967

SCHEDULE 2

Part I

Death of Employer or of Employee

Section 22 .

1. This Part shall have effect in relation to an employee where his employer (in this Part referred to as the deceased employer) dies.

2. Section 20 shall not apply to any change where by the ownership of the business, for the purposes of which the employee was employed by the deceased employer, passes to a personal representative of the deceased employer.

3. Where, by virtue of section 21, the death of the deceased employer is to be treated for the purposes of this Act as a termination by him of the contract of employment, the employee shall nevertheless not be treated for those purposes as having been dismissed by the deceased employer if—

(a) his contract of employment is renewed by a personal representative of the deceased employer, or he is re-engaged under a new contract of employment by such a personal representative, and

(b) the renewal or re-engagement takes effect not later than eight weeks after the death of the deceased employer.

4. Where, by reason of the death of the deceased employer, the employee is treated for the purposes of this Act as having been dismissed by him, he shall not be entitled to a redundancy payment in respect of that dismissal if—

(a) a personal representative of the deceased employer has made to him an offer in writing to renew his contract of employment or to re-engage him under a new contract,

(b) in accordance with the particulars specified in that offer the renewal or re-engagement would take effect not later than eight weeks after the death of the deceased employer,

(c) either—

(i) the provisions of the contract as renewed, or of the new contract, as to the capacity and place in which he would be employed and as to the other terms and conditions of his employment would not differ from the corresponding provisions of the contract in force immediately before the death, or

(ii) if, notwithstanding that in accordance with the particulars specified in that offer the provisions mentioned in subparagraph (i) would differ (wholly or in part) from the corresponding provisions of the contract in force immediately before the death, the offer constitutes an offer of suitable employment in relation to the employee,

and

(d) the employee has unreasonably refused that offer.

5. For the purposes of paragraph 4—

(a) an offer shall not be treated as one whereby the provisions of the contract as renewed, or of the new contract, would differ from the corresponding provisions of the contract in force immediately before the death of the deceased employer by reason only that the personal representative would be substituted as the employer for the deceased employer, and

(b) account shall not be taken of that substitution in determining whether the refusal of the offer was unreasonable.

6. Where by virtue of section 21 the death of the deceased employer is to be treated as a termination by him of the contract of employment, any reference in section 21 (2) to section 9 (2) shall be construed as including a reference to paragraph 3 of this Schedule.

7. Where the employee has before the death of the deceased employer been laid off or kept on short-time for one or more than one week, but has not given to the deceased employer notice of intention to claim, then if after the death of the deceased employer—

(a) his contract of employment is renewed, or he is re-engaged under a new contract, as mentioned in paragraph 3 (a) or 3 (b) of this Schedule, and

(b) after the renewal or re-engagement, he is laid off or kept on short-time for one or more weeks by the personal representative of the deceased employer,

sections 12 and 13 shall apply as if the week in which the deceased employer died and the first week of the employee's employment by the personal representative were consecutive weeks, and any reference in those sections to four weeks or thirteen weeks shall be construed accordingly.

8. Paragraph 9 or (as the case may be) paragraph 10 shall have effect where the employee has given to the deceased employer notice of intention to claim, and—

(a) the deceased employer has died before the end of the next four weeks after the service of that notice, and

(b) the employee has not terminated the contract of employment by notice expiring before the death of the deceased employer.

9. If in the circumstances specified in paragraph 8 the employee's contract of employment is not renewed by a personal representative of the deceased employer before the end of the next four weeks after the service of the notice of intention to claim, and he is not re-engaged under a new contract by such a personal representative before the end of those four weeks, sections 12 (1) and 12 (2) and section 13 (4) shall apply as if—

(a) the deceased employer had not died, and

(b) the employee had terminated the contract of employment by a week's notice (or, if under the contract he is required to give more than a week's notice to terminate the contract, he had terminated it by the minimum notice which he is so required to give) expiring at the end of those four weeks,

but sections 13 (1) to 13 (3) shall not apply.

10. (1) This paragraph shall have effect where, in the circumstances specified in paragraph 8, the employee's contract of employment is renewed by a personal representative of the deceased employer before the end of the next four weeks after the service of the notice of intention to claim, or he is re-engaged under a new contract by such a personal representative before the end of those four weeks, and—

(a) he was laid off or kept on short-time by the deceased employer for one or more of those weeks, and

(b) he is laid off or kept on short-time by the personal representative for the week, or for the next two or more weeks, following the renewal or re-engagement.

(2) Where the conditions specified in subparagraph (1) are fulfilled, sections 12 and 13 shall apply as if all the weeks for which the employee was laid off or kept on short-time as mentioned in the said subparagraph (1) were consecutive weeks during which he was employed (but laid off or kept on short-time) by the same employer.

11. In paragraphs 7 to 10 “week” and “notice of intention to claim” have the meanings respectively assigned to them by sections 2 and 12.

12. Where by virtue of paragraph 3 the employee is treated as not having been dismissed by reason of a renewal or re-engagement taking effect after the death of the deceased employer, then, in determining, for the purposes of section 7, whether he has been continuously employed for the requisite period, the interval between the death and the date on which the renewal or re-engagement takes effect shall count as a period of employment with the personal representative of the deceased employer, if, apart from this paragraph, it would not count for that purpose as such a period of employment.

13. For the purposes of the application, in accordance with section 4 (3), of any provisions of this Act to an employee who was employed in a private household, any reference to a personal representative in this Part shall be construed as including a reference to any person to whom, otherwise than in pursuance of a sale or other disposition for valuable consideration, the management of the household has passed in consequence of the death of the deceased employer.

14. Subject to the preceding provisions of this Part, in relation to an employer who has died—

(a) any reference in this Act to the doing of anything by, or in relation to, an employer shall be construed as including a reference to the doing of that thing by, or in relation to, any personal representative of the deceased employer, and

(b) any reference in this Act to a thing required or authorised to be done by, or in relation to, an employer shall be construed as including a reference to anything which, in accordance with any provision of this Act as modified by this Part (including subparagraph (a)), is required or authorised to be done by, or in relation to, any personal representative of his.

15. Where by virtue of any provision of this Act, as modified by this Part, a personal representative of the deceased employer is liable to pay a redundancy payment, or part of a redundancy payment, and that liability had not accrued before the death of the deceased employer, it shall be treated for all purposes as if it were a liability of the deceased employer which had accrued immediately before his death.

Part II

16. Where an employer has given notice to an employee to terminate his contract of employment and before that notice expires the employee dies, Part II of this Act shall apply as if the contract had been duly terminated by the employer by notice expiring on the date of the employee's death.

17. Where an employer has given notice to an employee to terminate his contract of employment, and has offered to renew his contract of employment, or to re-engage him under a new contract, then if—

(a) the employee dies without having either accepted or refused the offer, and

(b) the offer has not been withdrawn before his death,

section 15 (1) or 15 (2) (as the case may be) shall apply as if for “the employee has unreasonably refused” there were substituted “it would have been unreasonable on the part of the employee to refuse”.

18. (1) Where, in the circumstances specified in sections 10 (1) (a) and 10 (1) (b), the employee dies before the notice given by him under section 10 (1) (b) is due to expire and before the employer has given him notice under section 10 (3), section 10 (3) and section 10 (4) shall apply as if the employer had given him such notice and he had complied with it.

(2) Where, in the circumstances specified in sections 10 (1) (a) and 10 (1) (b), the employee dies before his notice given under section 10 (1) (b) is due to expire but after the employer has given him notice under section 10 (3), sections 10 (3) and 10 (4) shall apply as if the circumstances were that the employee had not died and had complied with the last-mentioned notice.

19. (1) Where an employee has given notice of intention to claim and dies before he has given notice to terminate his contract of employment and before the period specified in section 12 (2) the said section 12 (2) shall not apply.

(2) Where an employee, who has given notice of intention to claim, dies within seven days after the service of that notice, and before the employer has given a counter-notice, the provisions of sections 12 and 13 shall apply as if the employer had given a counter-notice within those seven days.

(3) In this paragraph “notice of intention to claim” and “counter-notice” have the meanings respectively assigned to them by sections 12 and 13.

20. In relation to the making of a claim by a personal representative of a deceased employee who dies before the end of the period of 30 weeks beginning on the date of dismissal or termination of employment, section 24 shall apply with the substitution for “30 weeks” of “one year”.

21. Subject to the preceding provisions of this Part, in relation to an employee who has died—

(a) any reference in this Act to the doing of anything by, or in relation to, an employee shall be construed as including a reference to the doing of that thing by, or in relation to, any personal representative of the deceased employee, and

(b) any reference in this Act to a thing required or authorised to be done by, or in relation to, an employee shall be construed as including a reference to anything which, in accordance with any provision of this Act as modified by this Part (including subparagraph (a)), is required or authorised to be done by, or in relation to, any personal representative of his.

22. Any right to a redundancy payment which had not accrued before the employee's death shall devolve on his personal representative.

23. In relation to any case where, under any provision contained in Part II of this Act as modified by the preceding provisions of this Part, the Tribunal has power to determine that an employer shall be liable to pay to a personal representative of a deceased employee either—

(a) the whole of a redundancy payment to which he would have been entitled apart from another provision therein mentioned, or

(b) such part of such a redundancy payment as the Tribunal thinks fit,

any reference in paragraph 22 to a right to a redundancy payment shall be construed as including a reference to any right to receive the whole or part of a redundancy payment if the Tribunal determines that the employer shall be liable to pay it.