ADJUDICATION OFFICER DECISION

Adjudication Reference: ADJ-00022101

Parties:

	Complainant	Respondent
Anonymised Parties	A Director of Sales and Marketing.	A Software Systems Provider.

Representatives

Self-Represented

Owner/Manager

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-00028955-001	31/05/2019
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 6 of the Payment of Wages Act, 1991	CA-00028955-002	31/05/2019

Date of Adjudication Hearing: 8 October 2019

Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Michael McEntee

Procedure:

In accordance with Section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act, 2015 andSection 6 of the Payment of Wages Act, 1991 following the referral of the complaint(s)/dispute(s) to me by the Director General, I inquired into the complaint(s)/dispute(s) and gave the parties an opportunity to be heard by me and to present to me any evidence relevant to the complaint(s)/dispute(s).

Background:

The issues in contention concern the alleged non-payment of three months’ salary to a Director of Sales and Marketing. The Company was an IT “Start Up”.

1: Summary of Complainant’s Case:

The Complainant was employed from September 2018 until the 1st April 2019. He was not paid for the Months of Jan, Feb and March 2019. He is legally due these payments. He resigned from the Respondent on the 1st April in complete frustration at the non-payment of salary.

2: Summary of Respondent’s Case:

The Respondent accepted that there was a proper liability in this Case. The Salary was a due but because of a funding/investor difficulty, the Company, a start-up IT operation, did not have the funds necessary. If funds became available, the liability would be properly addressed. It was deeply regretted that this situation had come about.

3: Findings and Conclusions:

There is no factual question in this case – the three months salary are legally due. A proper Contract of Employment was presented in evidence and the oral evidence of the Respondent accepted liability.

Expenses incurred by the Complainant have to be addressed directly to the Respondent and are not covered by this Decision.

The rate of Salary is as stated on the Claim form which was not contested.

Accordingly, I award, under Section 6 of the Payment of Wages Act,1991, the sum of € 16,250

(€5416.67 X 3) as basic pay due to the Complainant for the months of Jan to March 2019.

4: Decision:

Section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act 2015 and Section 6 of the Payment of Wages Act, 1991 requires that I make a decision in relation to the complaint(s)/dispute(s) in accordance with the relevant redress provisions of the cited Acts.

Act	Complaint/Dispute Reference No.	Summary Decision/ Please refer to Section Three above for detailed reasoning.
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 6 of the Payment of Wages Act, 1991	CA-00028955-001	Three months basic Salary is legally due. An Award of € 16,250 is made in favour of the Complainant.
Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 6 of the Payment of Wages Act, 1991	CA-00028955-002	Duplicate of above complaint. Withdrawn at Hearing.

Dated: 27th November 2019

Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Michael McEntee