Complainant

Respondent

Anonymised Parties

A Chef

A Restaurant/Pub

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-00021738-001

11/09/2018

The Complainant was seeking unpaid wages for the Month of May 2018 and holiday pay and maintained he was always paid in Cash.

The Complainant was employed as a Chef from March 1st 2017 to May 26th 2018.

He stated he was always paid in cash and that he did not get paid from the end of April 2018 to May 26th 2018.

He stated he had a contract of employment.

He stated he took 6 or 7 day holidays in February 2018 but was due some holidays.

He stated he worked out his notice.

He stated he never signed any receipt for his wages.

The Respondent denied that they owed any pay to the Complainant.

The Respondent submitted a comprehensive book of documents to show work hours of the Complainant.

The Respondent submitted payslips for the period in dispute and maintained they had paid all the monies due to the Complainant but did not have receipts for the payments made.

The Respondent   stated they had paid the holiday money due by bank transfer.

It was agreed by the parties that the Complainant was paid in cash. The Complainants claim form stated the money owed was due to be paid on May 1st 2018, when it was probably due weekly during the different weeks of May. At the Hearing the Complainant was not sure how many days holidays he was claiming and in subsequent written evidence to the Hearing he submitted his Bank Statement which showed he was paid, by the Respondent, 300 Euros on June 14thmarked by the Respondent as “Holiday Pay”. The Respondent also provided details of holiday days taken during 2018 by the Complainant and paid which the Complainant was in agreement with. Therefore based on the Complainants statement at the Hearing that he was not sure that he was owed holiday pay and the payment lodged to his bank account on June 14th 2018,for outstanding holiday pay, I find in favour of the Respondent and deem the claim for unpaid holiday pay to be not well founded.

With regard to the pay claim for May, the Respondent had no factual evidence of making the payment to the Complainant. They did not have any signed receipts for the payments they state they made. So the claim for approximately 2,400 euros unpaid wages cannot be decided on factual evidence. On the Complainants side he can show that there is no evidence of him receiving payments for the time he worked in May 2018. The time worked is not in dispute between the parties. On the Respondents side they submitted detailed payslips for the weeks covering the Complainants May 2018 payments and including tax, PRSI deductions etc, which of course have to be supplied and paid to the Revenue. Following the Hearing I gave the parties plenty of time to submit any further evidence to support their claim. It is noted that the Complainants Bank statements submitted show a regular weekly payment from the Respondent in the months leading up to his resignation.   However, the critical month of May was not included and therefore cannot give any further insight into what happened in this case. In the absence of any factual evidence to assist in determining a decision in this claim, I favour the Respondents position that the wages due was paid on the basis of the evidence that all prior wages due were paid, that they submitted relevant legal payslips showing the money was paid and the State deductions made and on the basis that the money due for holidays was paid to the Complainant by Bank Transfer on June 14th 2018, after the Complainant had left their employment. I find the Complainants claim for unpaid wages not well founded.

Unpaid Wages and Holiday Pay