Complainant

Respondent

Anonymised Parties

An Employee

An Hotel

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-00011818-001

09/06/2017

The complainant commenced employment   with the respondent on the 21/03/2017. The respondent operated a bonus   system. It was calculated for the financial year January to December of any   given year. It was paid in April following the respondent’s revenue returns. The complainant accepts that the entire   annual year’s bonus is not due to him as he didn’t work the entire year and   didn’t meet all of the targets. He calculates the bonus due to him as € 2,800   approximately. When he made enquires in 2017 about his bonus he was told that   it would be paid. A few days later he was informed by the same person that he   was actually not eligible for it as he had resigned his position prior to the   payment being due. He received an e-mail   from the CEO on the 26/04/2017 confirming that he would not be getting the   bonus because he resigned his position and was not actually an employee at   the time it was paid.  

The complainant accepts that he   received the rules in relation to the bonus payment in late 2016, read them   and signed them. However, when he was making the decision to resign he didn’t   consider the rules.

The respondent has very   specific rules in relation to the payment of the bonus. The complainant was   given a copy of the rules in October and he signed for them having read them   beforehand. Rule 4 states :

“ Employees who leave employment prior to the review and processing of   bonus payments via payroll in April of the following year do not have an   entitlement to a bonus payment.”

The bonus   is paid after the respondent has finalised the accounts for revenue purposes.   It is standard practise within the industry that the bonus would not be paid   until April of the following year.

Payment of Wages Act, 1991

(a) the deduction (or payment) is required or authorised to be made   by virtue of any statute or any instrument made under statute,

(b) the deduction (or payment) is required or authorised to be made   by virtue of a term of the employee's contract of employment included in the   contract before, and in force at the time of, the deduction or payment, or

(c) in the case of a deduction, the employee has given his prior   consent in writing to it.

(2) An employer shall not make a deduction from the wages of an   employee in respect of—

(a) any act or omission of the employee, or

(b) any goods or services supplied to or provided for the employee by   the employer the supply or provision of which is necessary to the employment,

unless—

(i) the deduction is required or authorised to be made by virtue of a   term (whether express or implied and, if express, whether oral or in writing)   of the contract of employment made between the employer and the employee, and

(ii) the deduction is of an amount that is fair and reasonable having   regard to all the circumstances (including the amount of the wages of the   employee), and

(iii) before the time of the act or omission or the provision of the   goods or services, the employee has been furnished with—

(I) in case the term referred to in subparagraph (i) is in writing, a   copy thereof,

(II) in any other case, notice in writing of the existence and effect   of the term

and

(iv) in case the deduction is in respect of an act or omission of the   employee, the employee has been furnished, at least one week before the   making of the deduction, with particulars in writing of the act or omission   and the amount of the deduction, and

(v) in case the deduction is in respect of compensation for loss or   damage sustained by the employer as a result of an act or omission of the   employee, the deduction is of an amount not exceeding the amount of the loss   or the cost of the damage, and

(vi) in case the deduction is in respect of goods or services   supplied or provided as aforesaid, the deduction is of an amount not   exceeding the cost to the employer of the goods or services, and

(vii) the deduction or, if the total amount payable to the employer by   the employee in respect of the act or omission or the goods or services is to   be so paid by means of more than one deduction from the wages of the   employee, the first such deduction is made not later than 6 months after the   act or omission becomes known to the employer or, as the case may be, after   the provision of the goods or services.

It is agreed between the parties that the respondent gave to the   complainant, in October, 2017, the terms and condition in relation to the   bonus payment scheme. The complainant, by reading and signing the rules   accepted them as part of the terms and condition of his employment. It was   open to him not to sign them. The agreed terms and conditions are very clear,   he must have been in employment post the annual review and at the time the   bonus was being processed. He was not. He resigned his position three weeks   prior to that. It was open to him to hold off on submitting his resignation   until after the bonus was processed.

In all the circumstances I find that the respondent did not breach   Section 5 of the Act and accordingly the complainant case fails.