ADJUDICATION OFFICER DECISION/RECOMMENDATION

Adjudication Reference: ADJ-00016461

Parties:

	Complainant	Respondent
Anonymised Parties	An Interpreter	An Employer

Representatives

Padraig Daly Independent accountant

Richard Grogan Richard Grogan & Associates

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-00021304-001	23/08/2018

Date of Adjudication Hearing: 10/12/2018

Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Niamh O'Carroll Kelly

Procedure:

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

Summary of Complainant’s Case:

The complainant made a complaint to the WRC in May 2018 in relation to a different matter. After that, the respondent reduced her hours of work. After the complainant filed her complaint she was given written work only to do. That reduced her hours by approximately 50%. The complainant submitted payslips for the months prior to and after the lodging of the complaint to the WRC to demonstrate the reducing of her hours.

Summary of Respondent’s Case:

The claim is misconceived. The complainant has filed a claim pursuant to the Payment of Wages Act. An alleged reduction in the complainant’s hours which has the knock- on effect of reducing her pay is not a matter that comes within the jurisdiction of that Act.

Findings and Conclusions:

Payment of Wages Act 1991, “Section 5— (1) An employer shall not make a deduction from the wages of an employee (or receive any payment from an employee) unless—

(a) the deduction (or payment) is required or authorised to be made by virtue of any statute or any instrument made under statute,

(b) the deduction (or payment) is required or authorised to be made by virtue of a term of the employee's contract of employment included in the contract before, and in force at the time of, the deduction or payment, or

(c) in the case of a deduction, the employee has given his prior consent in writing to it.

(2) An employer shall not make a deduction from the wages of an employee in respect of—

(a) any act or omission of the employee, or

(b) any goods or services supplied to or provided for the employee by the employer the supply or provision of which is necessary to the employment…..”

The complainant’s complaint is specifically in relation to an alleged reducing of her hours following the making of a complaint to the WRC i.e. Penalisation. She accepts that she did not do the work which would have attracted a wage. If she did not do the work, then there was no wage ‘properly payable’ and therefore there can be no deduction. In those circumstances I find that the claim is misconceived.

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.

The complaint fails.

Dated: 17-01-2019

Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Niamh O'Carroll Kelly

Key Words: