ADJ-00000401

ADJUDICATION OFFICER DECISION

Adjudication Decision Reference: ADJ-00000401

Complaint for Resolution:

Date of Adjudication Hearing: 10/03/2016

Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Pat Brady

Procedure:

In accordance with Section 41(4) of the Workplace Relations Act, 2015 following the referral of the complaint to me by the Director General, I inquired into the complaint and gave the parties an opportunity to be heard by me and to present to me any evidence relevant to the complaint.

Complainant’s Submission and Presentation:

The complainant commenced working for this employer in March 2014. His annual salary for a forty-five hour week was €22,600 or €434 per week according to his Terms of Employment statement..

In August 2015 he was asked by his employer to move to Scotland because of lack of work in Ireland.

He started working there on September 6^th 2015. He was paid after the first two weeks in the amount of €920.55 on September 18^th 2015 and received two further payments of €750 on September 25^th and €400.10 on October 30^th.

He did not receive any payslips and these latter two payments were paid to him from ATM’s in Malahide and Artane respectively according to the evidence from his bank statements.

He says the total pay due to him for the period was €5470 and that €4320 is still outstanding.

Respondent’s Submission and Presentation:

The Respondent did not attend the hearing.

Conclusions and Findings

There was some confusion over the complainant’s earnings even in his own evidence. Taking the figure shown in the statement of his Terms of Employment of €434 per week his total entitlement for the period in Scotland would have been lower than his estimate of €5470 which represents a weekly wage of €607.00.

He reduced his claim by the €750 that he was paid on September 25^th and the €400 on October 30^th to €4320. Yet in his direct evidence he stated that he was also paid €920.55 on September 18^th which raises some doubt as to why he was then paid €750 one week later.

I will take this latter figure in the September 25^th payment to define his weekly pay as €460.00 approximately and therefore find that his total wages for the nine week period should have been €4140. 

He was paid a total of €2070.00 according to his evidence leaving a balance outstanding of the same amount, €2070.00.

Decision:

Section 41(4) of the Workplace Relations Act 2015 requires that I make a decision in relation to the complaint in accordance with the relevant redress provisions under Schedule 6 of that Act.

I award the complainant €2027.00 in unpaid wages and a further two weeks pay as compensation in the amount of €720.00 for the breach of his rights under the Payment of Wages Act, this latter amount being compensation for the breach of his rights under the Act and not subject to tax.

Dated: 12th April 2016