Complainant

Respondent

Anonymised Parties

{Cabin Crew}

{An Airline}

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-00031688-001

20/10/2019

Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 6 of the Payment of Wages Act, 1991

CA-00031689-001

20/10/2019

The Complainant has been employed with the Respondent since 8th June 2016.

CA-00031688-001 & CA-00031689-001

The Complainant confirmed there is only one claim for loss of wages and these are merged.

The Complainant seeks payment of €6,453.72 wages due since 20th December 2018. His complaint was received by the Workplace Relations Commission on 20th October 2019 and he seeks an extension of time.

The Complainant commenced work in 2016 on a fixed-term seasonal contract. He was told he would be paid by a manager when his contract neared expiry. He turned down work in February 2017 as he was due to go back to the Respondent. He returned to work on a permanent seasonal contract on 5 May 2017. He was the only person he trained with who was not employed till May 2017. All others got roles in February 2017.

The Complainant received written confirmation the payment for period 1st February 2017 to 4th May 2017 would be made within three months of December 2018, but then was informed a meeting was required with HR regarding a previous grievance.

Despite requests for the meeting this was only held on 7th June 2019, and the outcome was received on 27th October 2019. The Respondent delayed in order that six months would elapse. The delay is due to the deliberate actions of the Respondent. He had reasonable cause for delay.

CA-00031688-001 & CA-00031689-001

The Respondent raises a preliminary issue relating to the claim pursuant to the Payment of Wages Act 1991.

This complaint was submitted to the WRC on 20 October 2019.There is a clearly prescribed statutory time limit for raising a complaint under Section 5 of Wages Act 1991 by virtue of Section 41(6) of the Workplace Relations Act 2015. Complaints must be submitted to the WRC within a period of 6 months from the date of the contravention to which the complaint relates.

The Complainant identified the date of alleged contravention as being 20 December 2018, yet his complaint to the WRC was submitted to the WRC on 20 October 2019, clearly outside the cognisable period for this type of complaint which in this case would be 21 April to 20 October 2019.

The Respondent raises two preliminary points in this regard, the Complainant identified the relevant date of occurrence as being 20 December 2018, yet the complaint was not submitted to the WRC until 20 October 2019, clearly outside the prescribed timeframe of 6 months;

It is submitted that the alleged deduction or non-payment referred to in this complaint form actually relates to a time period between February 2017 to May 2017 when the Complainant asserted he had an expectation that he would be returning to employment with the company, but did not return until May 2017. The relevant timeframe actually at issue in this complaint is the four month time period in 2017 and not the December 2018. The complaint is significantly outside the statutory required timeframes in the Act.

Without prejudice to the foregoing, the Complainant is a permanent member of staff since 5th November 2018. The Complainant was employed on a fixed term contract from April 2016 to 30th October 2016. He received an email from a manager on 21st October 2016 stating that new contracts would follow. These were offered on 22 February 2017 commencing on 8th May 2017. There was no obligation to provide work or to pay the Complainant from 1 November to 4th May 2017 and there was no deduction.

CA-00031688-001 & CA-00031689-001

I have heard and considered carefully the submissions of the parties.

S41 of the Workplace Relations Act 2015 provides;

(6) 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 contravention to which the complaint relates…..

(8) An Adjudication Officer may entertain a complaint or dispute to which this section applies presented or referred to the Director General after the expiration of the period referred to in subsection (6) or (7)( but not later than 6 months after such expiration) as the case may be, if he or she is satisfied that the failure to present the complaint or refer the dispute within that period was due to reasonable cause.

The Complainant’s claim for unpaid wages relates to a period beginning on 1 February 2017 to 4th May 2017. The complaint was received by the Workplace Relations Commission on 20th October 2019. S41 of the Workplace Relations Act 2015 allows an extension of the statutory period for a complaint to proceed to twelve months where there is reasonable cause. However, it is clear this complaint is long statute-barred.

Accordingly, the complaint is not well founded.

CA-00031688-001 & CA-00031689-001

The complaint is not well founded.

Statute-barred S41 of the Workplace Relations Act 2015.