ADJUDICATION OFFICER DECISION/RECOMMENDATION

Adjudication Reference: ADJ-00005880

Complaint(s):

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-00008158-001	13/11/2016
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 6 of the Payment of Wages Act, 1991	CA-00008158-002	13/11/2016

Date of Adjudication Hearing: 14/03/2017

Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Emer O'Shea

Location of Hearing: The Clayton Hotel Sligo

Procedure:

In accordance with Section 41 of the Workplace Relations Acct 2015 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).

Summary of Complainant’s Case:

The claimant was employed as a warehouse worker with the respondent from the 10^th Nov. 2015 to the 28^th February 2016. She submitted the respondent was in breach of the Act for failing to pay her wages amounting to €1,382.96 for time worked in Nov/Dec 2015. She further submitted the respondent was in breach of the Act for failing to pay her outstanding wages for Jan/Feb 2016 amounting to €4,300.86. She stated that she worked long hours during this period when the company was encountering business difficulties and submitted that she had an expectation that she would be paid her outstanding wages. She understood from her contacts with personnel from the Insolvency Fund that they would process her payment and only learned in October 2016 that she would have to refer her complaint to the WRC.

Summary of Respondent’s Case:

The respondent’s representative stated that the company went into liquidation on the 18^th April 2016 and did not have sufficient funds to pay its employees. He confirmed that the figures presented by the claimant accurately reflected the monies owed to her.

Decision:

Section 41 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.

CA-00008158-001- Payment of Wages Act 1991

I am satisfied on the basis of the submissions made by the claimant that there was reasonable cause for the delay in making her complaint and accordingly I deem the complaint to be in time. On the basis of the uncontested evidence presented at the hearing, I find the complaint to be well founded and I require the respondent to pay the claimant €1382.96 within 42 days of the date of this decision.

CA-00008158-002 Payment of Wages Act 1991

I am satisfied on the basis of the submissions made by the claimant that there was reasonable cause for the delay in making her complaint and accordingly I deem the complaint to be in time. On the basis of the uncontested evidence presented at the hearing, I find the complaint to be well founded and I require the respondent to pay the claimant €4,300.68 within 42 days of the date of this decision.

Dated: 9^th June 2017

Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Emer O'Shea