ADJUDICATION OFFICER DECISION

Adjudication Reference: ADJ-00023959

Parties:

	Complainant	Respondent
Anonymised Parties	A Delivery Driver	A Restaurant

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-00030599-001	02/09/2019

Date of Adjudication Hearing: 21/10/2019

Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Catherine Byrne

Procedure:

This complaint was submitted to the WRC on September 9th 2019 and, in accordance with Section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act 2015, it was assigned to me by the Director General. A hearing was arranged for October 21st 2019, for the parties to have an opportunity to be heard and to present evidence relevant to the complaint. The respondent’s Finance Director attended the hearing. The complainant did not attend, although I established that he was properly on notice of the date and time of the hearing.

Background:

This is a complaint about a shortfall of €54 in wages. Following the submission of this complaint to the WRC, the Finance Director said that he investigated the issue and he directed a member of his staff to contact the complainant to arrange to pay him the €54 that he claimed was due. He said that the complainant refused to accept the payment because he wanted the matter to proceed to a hearing.

On the form he submitted to the WRC, the complainant indicated that he was willing to engage in mediation. The Finance Director therefore asked for an opportunity to resolve the matter through that process; however, complainant refused to engage in mediation.

The complainant was not at the hearing. The Finance Director submitted that he was a self-employed contractor and not an employee. On this basis, he submitted that he has no entitlements under the Payment of Wages Act. Despite this, the Director indicated that he was prepared to pay the complainant the shortfall he claimed he was due.

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.

In the circumstances where the complainant did not attend the hearing, and in the absence of any evidence to the contrary having been submitted, I must conclude that this complaint is not well-founded and I decide accordingly.

Dated: 27th November 2019

Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Catherine Byrne

Key Words:

Complainant did not attend the hearing.