A former bogus self-employed worker at RTÉ has lost his claim to retrospective pay and holiday entitlements from the broadcaster as a result of the misclassification of his employment status for over six years.The Workplace Relations Commission ruled that it did not have the jurisdiction to hear complaints made by RTÉ employee Joseph Kelly in relation to his former employment status because they had been submitted outside the statutory timeframe.Mr Kelly claimed he was originally required by RTÉ to register as a contractor with Revenue when he started working with the national broadcaster in September 2012.He claimed he lost out on entitlements to annual leave, sick leave, public holidays and incremental salary increases as a consequence of having to become self-employed.Represented by a lay advisor, Martin McMahon, Mr Kelly sought to have his loss of earnings for a period of just over six years corrected and the necessary adjustments to his current salary scale.Eight separate claims, which were lodged with the WRC on 9 October 2024, were brought under the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997 and the Terms of Employment (Information) Act 1994.However, solicitor for RTÉ Séamus Given of Arthur Cox LLP, submitted that the cognisable period given the six-month statutory limitation of the legislation governing claims to the WRC was from April 10, 2024.Mr Given argued that Mr Kelly had been properly paid and given all his public holiday and annual leave entitlements over the relevant period.He also claimed that the WRC had no jurisdiction to hear or extend the time limit for submitting a complaint beyond a 12-month period.The WRC heard that Mr Kelly was hired as an independent contractor in September 2012 and paid €200 per day as a media content coordinator before being made an employee of RTÉ on 12 November 2018.He currently works as a news coordinator placed on point 12 of a 14-point salary scale which ranges from €37,567 to €59,862.Mr McMahon pointed out that the matter of bogus self-employment among workers at RTÉ was the subject of a review by an independent law firm as well as a review by the Department of Social Protection.He told the WRC that Mr Kelly was unaware of these reviews which resulted in RTÉ having to make a payment of approximately €30,000 to the Department of Social Protection to regularise his PRSI contributions.Mr McMahon said it had also led to Mr Kelly losing out on any entitlements to pay for working Sundays and public holidays as well as annual and sick leave and any other entitlement that permanent employees had.He claimed Mr Kelly was continuing to lose out due to the consequences of his initial employment misclassification.Mr McMahon said the complainant had made numerous efforts to resolve these matters without success.He argued that Mr Kelly was seeking to have his entitlements rectified and regularised so that he did not suffer any loss for the error which RTÉ accepted it had made.In his ruling, Mr Harraghy noted that Mr Kelly had provided extensive documentation in relation to the context and background of his claim and his attempts to seek a resolution with his employer.The WRC adjudicator said it was clear that Mr Kelly and Mr McMahon had committed a considerable amount of time and research on the issue.He observed that all the issues that were the subject of his complaints related to the period covering his employment status up to November 2018 when he was not afforded any of the rights that an employee would have accrued.However, Mr Harraghy said his role was to apply the law to the facts but he could only consider complaints submitted within the statutory timeframe provided for by the relevant legislation.He observed that WRC adjudication officers were not empowered to modify timeframes or accept complaints which fell outside timeframes outlined by law.For that reason, Mr Harraghy said he had no jurisdiction to consider the complaints made by Mr Kelly.During a two-day hearing which took place in December 2024 and June 2025, RTÉ was accused of engaging in "sharp practice" and attempting to "run down the clock" on a commitment to compensate those who had lost money as a result of bogus self-employment.Mr Kelly said that when he joined RTÉ in 2012 that the HR section told him he had to become a sole trader which also meant he was not allowed to apply for internal jobs at RTÉ.A senior HR manager at RTÉ, Angela McEvoy, said RTÉ had accepted a decision by the Department of Social Protection in relation to Mr Kelly's PRSI insurability.However, Ms McEvoy rejected the suggestion by Mr McMahon that RTÉ had got Mr Kelly to misrepresent himself to Revenue.Mr McMahon told the WRC that 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."
© RTÉ 2025.