PWD1918

FULL RECOMMENDATION

PW/19/8

DETERMINATIONNO.PWD1918

ADJ-00015021 CA-00019536-001

SECTION 7(1), PAYMENT OF WAGES ACT, 1991

PARTIES :

DK WALSHE RESTURANTS LTD

- AND -

DARWESH OBEID

DIVISION :

Chairman: Mr Foley
Employer Member: Ms Doyle
Worker Member: Mr McCarthy

SUBJECT:
1. Appeal of Adjudication Officer's Decision ADJ-00015021

BACKGROUND:

2. The Claimant appealed the Decision of the Adjudication Officer ADJ-00015021 to the Labour Court in accordance with Section 7(1) of the Payment of Wages Act, 1991 on 19th February 2019. A Labour Court hearing took place on 3rd July, 2019. The Employer was not present and was not represented at the hearing.

The following is the Determination of the Court:-

DETERMINATION:

This is an appeal by Darweish Obeid (the Appellant) against the Decision of an Adjudication Officer in his claim against his former employer DK Walshe Restaurants Limited (the Respondent) made under the Payment of Wages Act, 1991 (the Act). The Adjudication Officer held that the claim was not well-founded.

The Respondent did not attend the hearing of the Court and neither did the Respondent supply the Court with a submission. The Court is satisfied that the Respondent was notified and aware of the date, time and location of the hearing of the Court.

The Appellant was employed from 14^thDecember 2017 to 15^thJanuary 2018.

Summary position of the Appellant

The Appellant submitted that he had been paid lesser wages than that which was properly due to him. He cited a verbal agreement with the Respondent which provided for payment at the rate of €14 per hour for the first two weeks of his employment and payment at the rate of €15 per hour thereafter. He submitted that he was paid €13 per hour throughout his employment and that the Respondent had made unlawful deductions from the wages which were properly due to him throughout.

The Appellant submitted that the Respondent paid him at a rate below that which was properly due to him on three public holidays which fell during his employment.

The Appellant submitted that unlawful deductions in the amount of €588.50 were made by the employer contrary to the Act.

The Law

The Act at Section 5(6)(a) provides as follows

“Where—
- (a) the total amount of any wages that are paid on any occasion by an employer to an employee is less than the total amount of wages that is properly payable by him to the employee on that occasion (after making any deductions therefrom that fall to be made and are in accordance with this Act), or
  (b) none of the wages that are properly payable to an employee by an employer on any occasion (after making any such deductions as aforesaid) are paid to the employee then, except in so far as the deficiency or non-payment is attributable to an error of computation, the amount of the deficiency or non-payment shall be treated as a deduction made by the employer from the wages of the employee on the occasion.”

Discussion and Conclusion

In the absence of the Respondent or indeed any submission from the Respondent the Court has no means of inquiring into matters submitted as fact by the Appellant. The Appellant has submitted that the Respondent, contrary to the Act at Section 5, has made deductions in the amount of €588.50. Based on the only submission presented to the Court, the Court finds that the Respondent made unlawful deductions of wages which were properly payable to the Appellant in the amount of €588.50.

Determination

The Court determines that the Respondent was in breach of the Act at Section 5. The Court therefore hereby orders the Respondent to pay the Complainant the sum of €588.50 in respect of the breach of the Act. This payment should be made within six weeks of the date of this Determination. The Decision of the Adjudication Officer is accordingly set aside.

Signed on behalf of the Labour Court

Kevin Foley
17th July 2019______________________
SCChairman

NOTE

Enquiries concerning this Determination should be addressed to Sharon Cahill, Court Secretary.