ADJUDICATION OFFICER DECISION

Adjudication Reference: ADJ-00016374

Parties:

	Complainant	Respondent
Anonymised Parties	Associate Dentist	Dental Practice

Representatives

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-00020901-001	27/07/2018

Date of Adjudication Hearing: 08/11/2018

Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Rosaleen Glackin

Procedure:

In accordance with Section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act, 2015 and 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 stated that he was employed as Associate Dentist with another named Dentist from 4th August 2015 until 20th November 2017. The Complainant referred a complaint to the Workplace Relations Commission on 27th July 2018 alleging the Respondent had breached Section 5 of the Payment of Wages Act, 1991 and he is claiming payment of wages of €2520.31 due to be paid to him on or after the 14th December 2017. He stated that he had a verbal agreement with the Practice Owner, named, that all income would be split on a 50/50 basis.

Preliminary Issues.

A number of Preliminary Issues arise in relation to this complaint, firstly the Time Limits that apply to complaints under Section 41(6) of the Workplace Relations Act, 2015 and secondly the employment status of the Complainant.

Time Limits. Section 41(6) of the Workplace Relations Act, 2015 provides as follows – “Subject to subsection (8), an adjudication officer shall not entertain a complaint referred to him or her under this section if it has been presented to the Director General after the expiration of the period of 6 months beginning on the date of the contravention to which the complaint relates”.

Section 41(8) does allow for an extension of time if the Adjudication Officer ”is satisfied that the failure to present the complaint or refer the dispute within that period was due to reasonable cause”. The Complainant argued that he had contacted a named Solicitor on 9th April 2018 but he was not advised to lodge a complaint with the Workplace Relations Commission nor was he informed that there was a six months time limit in lodging a complaint. He also stated that he had been in contact over May and June 2018 with the named owner of the practice.

It is established case law of the High Court that ignorance of the law cannot be relied on by a Complainant to justify a delay in lodging a complaint.

Decision:

Section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act 2015 requires that I make a decision in relation to the complaint.

In accordance with Section 41(5) of the Workplace Relations Act, 2015 I declare I do not have jurisdiction to hear this complaint as the complaint was submitted outside the Time Limits specified in Section 41(6) of the Act

Dated: 12th March 2019

Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Rosaleen Glackin

Key Words:

Payment of Wages – Time Limits preliminary issue – Decision – I do not have jurisdiction as the complaint was lodged outside the time limits specified in Section 41(6) of the Act of 2015.