ADJUDICATION OFFICER DECISION
Adjudication Reference: ADJ-00018578
Parties:
| Complainant | Respondent |
Anonymised Parties | A Labourer | A Construction Company |
Representatives |
|
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Complaint:
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-00023933-001 | 09/12/2018 |
Date of Adjudication Hearing: 04/02/2019
Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Catherine Byrne
Procedure:
In accordance with Section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act 2015, this complaint was assigned to me by the Director General. I conducted a hearing on February 4th 2019, and gave the parties an opportunity to be heard and to present evidence relevant to the complaint. At the hearing, the complainant had the support of an interpreter. The managing director of the respondent company attended. Neither party was represented.
Background:
This is a complaint about the non-payment of one week’s wages. |
Summary of Complainant’s Case:
The complainant started work on May 14th 2018 and he finished up of his own accord on October 12th 2018. He said that he wasn’t paid for his last week of work, and that he is owed €500 by his former employer. |
Summary of Respondent’s Case:
At the hearing, the director said that the complainant resigned and gave him one day’s notice. He said that he was about to start on a new contract on a residential site and that he asked the complainant to hold on for a week, but he refused. He was advised that, where an employee failed to give proper notice, that wages could be withheld. |
Findings and Conclusions:
Regardless of whether an employee gives his or her employer notice of their intention to resign, there are no provisions for the non-payment of wages for work done. Accordingly, I find that the non-payment of wages to the employee for his last week of work was an illegal deduction on the part of his employer. |
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.
As I have found that the employer did not pay the complainant his final week’s salary, and that there was no legal basis for such a deduction, I decide that the respondent should pay the complainant €500 gross, equivalent to one week’s pay. |
Dated: 5th February 2019
Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Catherine Byrne
Key Words:
Non-payment of wages |