ADJUDICATION OFFICER DECISION

Adjudication Decision Reference: ADJ-00002161

Complaint(s)/Dispute(s) for Resolution:

Act	Complaint/Dispute Reference No.	Date of Receipt
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 6 of the Payment of Wages Act, 1991	CA-00002924-001	29/02/2016

Date of Adjudication Hearing: 18/05/2016

Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: John Tierney

Procedure:

In accordance with Section 41(4) of the Workplace Relations Act, 2015 [and/or Section 8(1B) of the Unfair Dismissals Act, 1977, and/or Section 9 of the Protection of Employees (Employers’ Insolvency) Act, 1984, and/or Section 79 of the Employment Equality Act, 1998, and/or Section 25 of the Equal Status Act, 2000] following the referral of the complaint(s)/dispute(s) to me by the Director General, I inquired into the complaint(s)/dispute(s) and gave the parties an opportunity to be heard by me and to present to me any evidence relevant to the complaint(s)/dispute(s).

Complainant’s Submission and Presentation:

Money owed: Outstanding salary- 600€ Holiday pay - 268.80€ (Total hours worked: 168; 20€ hour rate) 3 Bank Holidays - 180€ Total: 1048.80€ This has been a very stressful and draining process, as there have been issues regarding payment since the month I started. I never signed a contract, I had to repeatedly ask for the school's registration number for the Revenue and I got all payslips late, but before I got paid. I never got a payslip for December. I was a very loyal member of the staff and diligently performed my work, even under a lot of financial and emotional stress, bearing in mind I did not get any money in October or November. I was hired to work 15 hours per week and kindly agreed to do a full time week twice, to cover for my colleagues, for the smooth running of classes. To this day, I have been repeatedly contacting Mr Price and have got very little communication back. I have been given several oral agreements on payment that have not come through. I agreed to wait until February and have not got any money, although I also agreed to be paid in two instalments. Not only am I owed money, but I have been constantly lied to. I went to work without being paid for more than two months (paying childcare, commuting from Navan, paying parking) Consequently, my family has struggled financially and emotionally and we were not able to pay childcare and mortgage on time. This has enormous repercussions on our role as parents and also on our credit ratings. Over Christmas, my father was diagnosed with cancer; Mr Price is aware of the situation and the fact that I would like to be able to go visit my family in Portugal, were I not struggling with money and stress from this situation. Even though, he kept on ignoring my request, then gave me his word that he would pay what I am rightly owed and has not done that.

Respondent’s Submission and Presentation;

The Claimant was employed by the Respondent from September 2015 until she resigned on 8 January 2016. In or about 16 December 2015 she left to return to her native country to look after her father. When she returned on 8n January she resigned.

There are various emails between the parties since the middle of January 2016 which question the amounts of wages allegedly owed. The Respondent has offered on several occasions to meet her to resolve all matters. All of which have been neglected, refused and ignored by the Claimant. On 28 February the Respondent received an abusive text from her (content provided to the Hearing).

The Respondent provided a time line and detailed list of payments made to the Claimant in the course of her employment. These payments covered the period from 25 September up to 29 February 2016. It is their position that the Claimant has been paid in full and there are no monies due.

Decision:

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

[Section 8(1B) of the Unfair Dismissals Act, 1977 requires that I make a decision in relation to the unfair dismissal claim consisting of a grant of redress in accordance with section 7 of the 1977 Act.

Section 9(3) of the Protection of Employees (Employers’ Insolvency) Act, 1984 requires that I make a decision in relation to the complaint in accordance with the relevant redress provisions under section 9(4) of that Act.

Section 79(6) of the Employment Equality Act, 1998 requires that I make a decision in relation to the complaint in accordance with the relevant redress provisions under section 82 of the Act.

Section 25 of the Equal Status Act, 200 requires that I make a decision in relation to the complaint in accordance with the relevant redress provisions under section 27 of that Act.

It became clear in the course of the Hearing that the Claimant was unable to state in any meaningful detail of what she believed was actually owed. The Hearing afforded her two weeks to submit in writing what she believed the breakdown was of this figure.

Decision:

The Claimant submitted further details as well as those made at the Hearing. I have considered these and the Respondent’s submission. In the evidence submitted by the Claimant it contained some payslips and some bank transfer details.

In considering the evidence presented by the parties, I prefer the evidence of the Respondent.

I therefore do not find the claim well founded and it fails.

Dated: 7^th December 2016