ADJUDICATION OFFICER DECISION

Adjudication Reference: ADJ-00019597

Parties:

	Complainant	Respondent
Anonymised Parties	A Fitter	A Construction Company

Complaints:

Act	Complaint Reference No.	Date of Receipt
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under Section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act, 2015.	CA-00021333-001	25/08/2018
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under Section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act, 2015.	CA-00021333-003	25/08/2018

Date of Adjudication Hearing: 12/03/2019

Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Pat Brady

Procedure:

In accordance with Section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act, 2015following 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.

Summary of Complainant’s Case:

The complainant was employed in a sector which attracted the provisions of the construction industry Sectoral Employment Order. This would entitle him to an hourly wage of €18.36 per hour.

He submitted in evidence wage slip covering some twenty-six weeks. While there was a very significant variation in general they averaged between €570 (eleven weeks) €689 (seven weeks €725 to €748 (three weeks) with some outliers above this.

I calculate that an average weekly wage for the complainant was approximately €635.00.

The complainant also submitted evidence of the hours he returned for payment each week.

They appeared in general to be in the range of fifty to sixty hours per week.

Summary of Respondent’s Case:

The respondent did not attend the hearing. No explanation was received for the failure to do so.

Findings and Conclusions:

The complainant has made two complaints; one of an alleged breach of the Order in relation to the appropriate rate, and a second more generalised one related to his terms of employment.

He concentrated on the first of these and did not offer any evidence on the second.

In that regard, I calculate, based on the above submissions, that an average weekly wage for the complainant was approximately €635.00.

Based on his evidence of the hours he returned for payment each week, which I accept, they were in the range of fifty to sixty hours per week.

Using the midpoint in this it would give the complainant something around €11.55 per hour; some way off the required rate of €18.36; some €6.81 per hour, or on the basis of the complainant’s working week (taking the average of fifty-five hours) a shortfall of €375 per week.

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.

I uphold complaint CA-00020333-001 in relation to wages and award the complainant €10.000.00.

I do not uphold complaint CA-00020333-003 and it is dismissed.

Dated: 1st May 2019

Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Pat Brady

Key Words:

Sectoral Employment Order, Construction.