Complainant

Respondent

Anonymised Parties

Restaurant  Manager

Restaurant Owner/Operator

Representatives

  Self

 No attendance

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-00033905-001

21/01/2020

The complaint is concerned with non - payment of wages and holiday pay on termination of employment details of which are set out in the summary of the Complainants case.

The Respondent was notified of the hearing at two email addresses provided by the Complainant. The Respondent has ceased trading at the premises where the Complainant was employed. However, it was her understanding that the Respondent was part of a company and not a sole location and one of the email addresses to which correspondence was issued is the address for the company. This Decision is issued against  the named Company T/A as a named restaurant.

I am satisfied that every reasonable effort was made by the WRC to notify the Respondent of the complaint, date and time of the hearing and the hearing proceeded on this basis.

This was a virtual hearing conducted remotely.

The complainant stated she  was employed at the restaurant as a manager from 15/08/2019 until 11/01/2020. There was no statement of terms of employment, she received no payslips. There were difficulties getting paid which also related to payment through a bank account in Italy used by the Respondent. Her rate of pay was €10 per hour for 40 hours with a bonus of €100 per week for her managerial role totalling €500  for which no information on tax deductions was provided to her. The claim is for three weeks pay from December 15th 2019 until January 5th, 2020, the last day worked, and holiday pay for the period of the employment. The staff refused to work when they had not been paid. The restaurant closed for a few days. Some staff went back. Then Covid came and the restaurant closed and did not reopen. After she refused to work without payment she received a letter from the Company named in the Decision, informing her of alleged irregularities. She never heard from them again and believes the letter was sent because she had looked for her wages.

The Respondent did not attend and was not represented. There was no evidence presented and no documentation available which could be considered, other than the evidence of the Complainant.

Based on the available evidence, the Complainant has established a well-founded complaint that three weeks wages for work between December 15th and January 5th were deducted from her without her agreement. The restaurant was closed for one day in this period-Christmas Day and payment for that day is covered by  Public Holiday pay. As there is nothing available to show that the employer deducted tax from the payments, he must be considered liable for that tax and presumed to have made the necessary returns. The pay of the Complainant is treated as her nett pay for the purposes of this Decision. Holiday pay deducted is calculated  as two weeks pay given there are no holiday records, no records of hours worked or leave taken and no contract of employment to cover the matter of leave including payment for public holidays worked.

Payment of Wages Act 1991 -CA-00033905-001

The complaint by the Complainant of payments of wages and holiday pay deducted without her agreement is well founded. The Respondent is to pay the Complainant €2500 nett.

Pay withheld on termination