ADJ-00023150

Complainant

Respondent

Anonymised Parties

Shop Assistant

Shop Owner

Representatives

  Self

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-00029779-001

19/07/2019

The complainant was employed as a shop assistant on a part-time basis commencing employment with the respondent on 16 July 2018.  The complainant was advised by phone by the respondent on 9 May 2019 that the shop was closing and not to report for work.  The complainant was told that the respondent’s accountant would pay to her any monies due but this did not occur.

The respondent did not pay the complainant the money due to her upon closure of the business.

The complainant is due two weeks’ wages.

The complainant is due payment for annual leave entitlements.

The respondent did not appear at the hearing.

There was no appearance by the respondent at the hearing.  I noted that the notice of the hearing had been sent to the respondent and I was advised by the secretariat that no communication had been received from the respondent by the WRC that might explain his absence.  I therefore proceeded with the hearing.

 The respondent operated a local grocery shop in rented premises.  The complainant commenced employment there on 16 July 2018, normally working around 26 hours per week.  On Thursday, 9 May 2019, the complainant received a phone call from the respondent to the effect that he had received notice to quit the premises and that as a result he was closing the shop.  The complainant was further advised not to report for work and told that her outstanding payments were being processed by the respondent’s accountant.  The complainant did not receive any payment that Friday and in the following period the complainant contacted the respondent by text regarding the money due to her without receiving a satisfactory response.  The complainant referred her complaint to the WRC on 19 July 2019.  The complainant’s claim under the Payment of Wages Act, 1991, is for two weeks’ wages as she stated that she worked a week in arrears and for payment in respect of outstanding annual leave entitlement.

Wages is defined in the Act as follows:

“wages” in relation to an employee, means any sums payable to the employee by the employer in connection with his employment including –

(a)    any fee, bonus or commission, or any holiday, sick or maternity pay, or any other emolument, referable to his employment, whether payable under his contract or otherwise, and

(b)    any sum payable to the employee upon the termination by the employer of his contract of employment without his having given to the employee the appropriate prior notice of the termination, being a sum paid in lieu of the giving of such notice.

With respect to outstanding leave entitlements the complainant stated that she had never taken a full week’s holidays but had taken days here and there.  In her claim form the complainant had calculated the amount due to her in this regard as €240.00.  It was noted that the respondent had posted a final payslip dated 16 May 2019 on the Revenue site which included a calculation of the amount owed to the complainant in lieu of holidays as €222.85 (22.74 hours).  The complainant accepted this calculation.

A few weeks after the hearing the respondent sent an email to the WRC to which he attached the copy of the payslip of 16 May and stated that he accepted that the complainant was due a sum of €477.65 gross which equated to one week’s pay plus the holiday pay as outlined above.  He stated that he had a number of outstanding liabilities that he was attempting to deal with.  The respondent noted that he had attempted to make an offer of €300.00 to the complainant to settle the matter.  In addition, he stated that he had not been aware of the date of the hearing.  This email was responding to a communication sent to him by the WRC and which was sent to the same address as the notice of hearing.  I therefore cannot accept this excuse.  I also note that this does not address the complaint in respect of the non-payment of the wages due to the complainant on 9 May.     

Complaint No. CA-00029779-001:

I find this complaint under the Payment of Wages Act, 1991, to be well founded and I order the respondent to pay to the complainant the sum of €732.45 (2 x €254.80 plus €222.85 holiday pay) in this regard.

Closure of Business    Outstanding payments