ADJUDICATION OFFICER DECISION
Adjudication Reference: ADJ-00015054
Parties:
| Complainant | Respondent |
Anonymised Parties | A Brand Manager | A Marketing Company (in Liquidation) |
Representatives |
| OHB Consulting |
Complaints:
Act | Complaint Reference No. | Date of Receipt |
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 6 of the Payment of Wages Act, 1991 | CA-00019563-002 | 04/06/2018 |
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 6 of the Payment of Wages Act, 1991 | CA-00019563-003 | 04/06/2018 |
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 6 of the Payment of Wages Act, 1991 | CA-00019563-004 | 04/06/2018 |
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 6 of the Payment of Wages Act, 1991 | CA-00019563-005 | 04/06/2018 |
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 6 of the Payment of Wages Act, 1991 | CA-00019563-006 | 04/06/2018 |
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 6 of the Payment of Wages Act, 1991 | CA-00019563-007 | 04/06/2018 |
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 27 of the Organisation of Working Time Act, 1997 | CA-00019563-008 | 04/06/2018 |
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 27 of the Organisation of Working Time Act, 1997 | CA-00019563-009 | 04/06/2018 |
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 7 of the Terms of Employment (Information) Act, 1994 | CA-00019563-010 | 04/06/2018 |
Date of Adjudication Hearing: 18/09/2018
Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Ewa Sobanska
Procedure:
In accordance with Section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act, 2015 following the referral of the complaints to me by the Director General, I inquired into the complaints and gave the parties an opportunity to be heard by me and to present to me any evidence relevant to the complaints.
Background:
The Complainant commenced her employment with the Respondent on 14th November 2017 and her employment was terminated on 18th April 2018. The Complainant was paid €400 gross a week and worked 40 hours. |
Summary of Complainant’s Case:
The Complainant did not attend the hearing. In the WRC Complaint Form the Complainant made nine separate claims against the Respondent. These complaints are as follows: CA-00019563-002 under Section 6 of the Payment of Wages Act, 1991 The Complainant submits that in January 2018 the Respondent ran into financial difficulty and wasn’t able to pay her for the majority of the month. The Complainant submits that at the end of the month, on the 26th, she received €300. The Respondent said that he couldn’t afford to back pay her for the preceding weeks in one go and he set up a payment plan to repay €100 extra on top of current wages each week. The Complainant claims that she was never paid in full and is still owed €300 for the week of the 19th January 2018. CA-00019563-003 under Section 6 of the Payment of Wages Act, 1991 The Complainant submits that upon receiving her wages on 16th March 2018 she noticed that €50 of her wages was missing. She claims that she was supposed to be paid €500 (€400 + €100 back pay) but received €450. The Respondent had not warned her that the deduction was going to occur and when asked she was told that he didn’t have enough money to pay all staff and that he thought that paying the staff most of their wages would suffice. The Complainant claims that the Respondent told her that he would ‘top up’ her wages the following week but the matter went unresolved. CA-00019563-004under Section 6 of the Payment of Wages Act, 1991 The Complainant submits that on 23rd March 2018 the Respondent failed to pay her weekly wages of €400. CA-00019563-005under Section 6 of the Payment of Wages Act, 1991 The Complainant submits that on 6th April 2018 the Respondent failed to pay her weekly wages of €400. CA-00019563-006 under Section 6 of the Payment of Wages Act, 1991 The Complainant submits that on 13th April 2018 the Respondent failed to pay her weekly wages of €400. CA-00019563-007 under Section 6 of the Payment of Wages Act, 1991 The Complainant submits that on 18th April 2018 the Respondent failed to pay her weekly wages of €300. CA-00019563-008 under Section 27 of the Organisation of Working Time Act, 1997 The Complainant submits that over the course of six months she worked for the Respondent she did not take any holidays and hasn’t been paid for the holidays she was entitled to take. CA-00019563-009 under Section 27 of the Organisation of Working Time Act, 1997 The Complainant submits that she didn’t receive her public holidays entitlements and is owed €200 in respect of two public holidays, St. Patrick’s Day and Easter. CA-00019563-010 – under Section 7 of the Terms of Employment (Information) Act, 1994 The Complainant submits that the Respondent never provided her with a proper contract or statement of terms of employment. |
Summary of Respondent’s Case:
There was no attendance by or on behalf of the Respondent. |
Findings and Conclusions:
I am satisfied that a letter dated 9th August 2018 issued to the Complainant, confirming the venue, date and time of the hearing at her home address provided. The Complainant made a number of inquiries in respect of her dealings with the liquidator by email sent to the WRC at 8.50pm on of 17th September 2018 (the evening before the hearing). However, she did not indicate any difficulty attending or seek an adjournment. Post hearing, on 19th September 2018 the Complainant informed the WRC by email that she assumed that the case would be heard on her behalf and that she would later be informed of the outcome. I find the Complainant’s non-attendance at the hearing to pursue her complaints unreasonable in the circumstances. Therefore, the complaints fail for want of prosecution and are accordingly dismissed. |
Decision:
Section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act 2015 requires that I make a decision in relation to the complaints in accordance with the relevant redress provisions under Schedule 6 of that Act.
As the Complainant did not attend the adjudication hearing to pursue her complaints the complaints fail for lack of prosecution. |
Dated: September 27th 2018
Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Ewa Sobanska
Key Words:
Non-attendance- terms of employment-annual leave-public holidays-wages |