ADJUDICATION OFFICER DECISION

Adjudication Reference: ADJ-00015510

Parties:

	Complainant	Respondent
Anonymised Parties	A Teacher.	A Government Department

Representatives

Ciara McKenna-Keane, BL

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-00019839-001	18/06/2018

Date of Adjudication Hearing: 13/11/2018

Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: David Mullis

Procedure:

In accordance with Section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act, 2015 and the Payment of Wages Act, 1991, following the referral of the complaint to me by the Director General, I inquired into the complaint and gave the parties an opportunity to be heard by me and to present to me any evidence relevant to the complaint.

Background:

The Complainant works in a post primary school. She commenced her employment there on the 1st September 2017.

Summary of Complainant’s Case:

The Complainant is seeking recognition in her salary scale for experience gained in working for 2 years in a post-primary teaching role in Switzerland prior to joining the school at which she now teaches in Ireland.

Summary of Respondent’s Case:

The Respondent is currently not satisfied that the teaching by the Complainant abroad is reckonable for increment purposes in Ireland.

They say that the increments claimed were not granted to the Complainant prior to her taking up her present post and are not “properly payable” to her under the definition of wages under the Payment of Wages Act, 1991.

They say that the difference between the Complainant’s pay and her expectations is not an infringement under Section 5 of the Act.

Findings and Conclusions:

I find that the Respondent’s response is well founded under the Act under which the complaint was made.

Decision:

Section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act 2015 requires that I make a decision in relation to the complaint in accordance with the relevant redress provisions under Schedule 6 of that Act.

I find that the complaint is not well founded under the Payment of Wages Act, 1991 and that the complaint, therefore, fails.

Dated: 20th February 2109

Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: David Mullis