Complainant

Respondent

Anonymised Parties

A Sales Representative

A Sales Company

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-00029103-001

17/06/2019

The complainant was employed by the respondent from on or about 6th January 2019 until 10th May 2019 as a Sales Representative. The respondent is a Sales Company selling Gas and/or Electricity units on behalf of utility providers.

The complaint was submitted to the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) on 17th June 2019 and relates to an alleged breach of the Payment of Wages Act, 1991 in so far as the complainant was not paid the agreed commission having made a group sale at Student accommodation in Carlow on behalf of the respondent.

The complainant stated that he is owed €400 in respect of the group sale that he made on behalf of the respondent. The complainant outlined that once he makes a sale, he receives €10 commission per sale after a two-week period has elapsed, depending on sales targets being met. The complainant stated that the commission in question amounts to €400 as he made 40 sales while working for the respondent in Carlow.

The complainant outlined a number of issues that arose when he sought the payment of his commission. He stated that initially, he was told he would be paid the commission as a One for All Voucher and when delays occurred, he was then told he would be in cash paid a week later. The complainant further stated that after numerous delays he was told that he hadn’t made any sales and as he was no longer an employee there was no commission due to him.

The complainant stated that he had met his pre commission target of 15 Sales in the week in question and therefore he is entitled to the payment in line with the 40 sales he made.

The respondent contends that the complainant is not due the commission in question. The respondent stated that when the Sales in question were made, the complainants line manager had to credit the provider with €500 in order to get a reduction in unit price and secure the group sale. The respondent stated that as a result, the complainant was informed that he would not be paid the entirety of the commission. The respondent stated that the complainant received 25% of the commission (€100) in his last salary payment before leaving the Company.

I note that the parties are in direct conflict in relation to the payment of the commission and the amount owed. At the adjudication hearing the respondent accepted up to a point that the complainant was entitled to the commission, however it stated that once the €500 credit was applied to the provider, the complainant was informed that he would receive only a percentage of the commission in relation to the sale. I also note that the complainant does not accept that this was agreed or that it was even said to him on the day in question.

On this issue I find that there was nothing in writing allowing the respondent to withhold any commission from the complainant in circumstances where the respondent had to apply a credit to the provider to secure the group sale. I note that the respondent would receive its fee once the customer had been a billable client of the provider for 14 days. In those circumstances I do not accept that the sale should be secured at the expense of the complainant’s commission.

The Applicable Law

Section 1 of the Payment of Wages Act, 1991 provides as follows:

“wages”, in relation to an employee, means any sums payable to the employee by the employer in connection with his employment, including—

(a) any fee, bonus or commission, or any holiday, sick or maternity pay, or any other emolument, referable to his employment, whether payable under his contract of employment or otherwise, and

(b) any sum payable to the employee upon the termination by the employer of his contract of employment without his having given to the employee the appropriate prior notice of the termination, being a sum paid in lieu of the giving of such notice:

Section 5(6) of the Payment of Wages Act, 1991 provides as follows:

(6) 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.

In all of the circumstances of the within compliant, I find that the respondent was not entitled to withhold any of the complainant’s commission from him. I find that the complainant was entitled to be paid the entire commission in relation to the sales made.

Having considered the submissions of both parties, I find that the complaint is well founded. The respondent is directed to pay the complainant €400 in respect of commission that was properly payable to him.

Payment of Wages, Commission