Complainant

Respondent

Parties

Jaroslaw  Hazik

Event Transport Ireland Ltd

Act

Complaint Reference No.

Date of Receipt

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

CA-00036508-001

03/06/2020

Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 13 of the Industrial Relations Act, 1969[this case was withdrawn at the hearing]

CA-00036508-003

03/06/2020

On the 29th of January 2020 the complainant left his employment. As he was leaving  his employment, he was told that he would not be receiving his full outstanding wages owing arising from damage to a vehicle and repairs to same. The employer maintains that under the contract of employment such deduction is lawful. The employee maintains it is unlawful as he wasn’t properly notified of the deduction or received any bill in connection with the repair arising from the accident. The employer allegedly deducted €850 from the final wages due.

The complainant states that the employer has failed to provide proper notice to make a lawful deduction that specify the amount and provide details of the bill arising from the accident and why he was liable  for the repairs.

A hearing was arranged for the 4th of October 2021 and the respondent failed to attend.

The employer based on documentary evidence submitted; relies upon the following terms in an alleged contract that both parties agreed to and also a detailed accident report that records the damage caused to the vehicle. The contract provided to the Commission is unsigned:

Additional Terms

59. Receipts must be given for any expenses - expenses must be approved prior to any purchase.

60. Any incidences must be reported back to the Employer with immediate effect. If there is any damage caused to vehicles or other, photo’s must be provided – this includes any damaged caused, witnesses or know of by the employee.

61. Cost for any damage caused directly by the employee will be paid by the employee. The employer is entitled to recoup this cost by salary reduction.

CA-00036508-001

The complaints were referred to me for investigation. A hearing for that purpose was held on the 13th of October 2021. There was no appearance by the respondent at the hearing. I am satisfied that the complainant was notified of the date and time of the remote hearing having regard to the provisions as set out in the Civil Law and Criminal Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2020 and SI. No. 359/2020. The respondent representative was on maternity leave; however, as no exceptional reasons were provided why the remote hearing should be adjourned, the hearing of the complaint commenced.

The Payment of Wages Act 1991 provides that an employer may make lawful deductions when:

5.— (1) An employer shall not make a deduction from the wages of an employee (or receive any payment from an employee) unless—

( a) the deduction (or payment) is required or authorised to be made by virtue of any statute or any instrument made under statute,

( b) the deduction (or payment) is required or authorised to be made by virtue of a term of the employee's contract of employment included in the contract before, and in force at the time of, the deduction or payment,

There is a disagreement between the two parties whether the contract was signed and agreed to. It would appear to have been sent to the complainant; however, no signed copy has been provided. The complainant under oath, states that he did not agree to such a term and the respondent was not present at the hearing so that evidence could be cross examined.

And at section 5(2):

(2) An employer shall not make a deduction from the wages of an employee in respect of—

( a) any act or omission of the employee, or

( b) any goods or services supplied to or provided for the employee by the employer the supply or provision of which is necessary to the employment,

unless—

(i) the deduction is required or authorised to be made by virtue of a term (whether express or implied and, if express, whether oral or in writing) of the contract of employment made between the employer and the employee, and

(ii) the deduction is of an amount that is fair and reasonable having regard to all the circumstances (including the amount of the wages of the employee), and

(iii) before the time of the act or omission or the provision of the goods or services, the employee has been furnished with—

(I) in case the term referred to in subparagraph (i) is in writing, a copy thereof,

(II) in any other case, notice in writing of the existence and effect of the term,

And

(iv) in case the deduction is in respect of an act or omission of the employee, the employee has been furnished, at least one week before the making of the deduction, with particulars in writing of the act or omission and the amount of the deduction,

The complainant states in his complaint form and under oath that :

“I haven’t received any bill or notice…I was told that his is in the contract and I will not be paid. I have received a contract by email with headline saying that my employer will bring a printed copy for my to sign. I never read the contract in an email and I was never given one to sign, where if I was I would bring it to someone who could explain what is in it, as my English is not good enough  to understand office language at that level.”

In the absence of any contrary evidence I am satisfied that the provisions required to be satisfied by the employer before a lawful deduction could be made were not satisfied in this case and therefore the deduction made was unlawful.

The complainant provided a final payslip and timesheets to support his claim.

The payslip dated 14th of February 2020 details net pay of €373.21.

This amount is based on basic hours of 26 and 11 hours holiday entitlement.

The time sheet commencing 20th of January 2020 records 38.25 hours to be paid at a rate of €20 per hour.

The time sheet commencing the 27th of January 2020 records 25 hours to be paid at a rate of €20 per hour.

The actual hours worked to be paid was 63.25 hours; however, what was actually paid was 26 hours as per the final payslip; leaving a balance of 37.25 hours to be paid at €20 per hour=€745 gross.

CA-00036508-001

Section 6 of the Payment of Wages Act provides that:

that the complaint is, in whole or in part, well founded as respects the deduction or payment shall include a direction to the employer to pay to the employee compensation of such amount (if any) as he considers reasonable in the circumstances not exceeding —

( a ) the net amount of the wages (after the making of any lawful deduction therefrom) that

The complaint in part is well founded and I direct the employer to pay to the employee compensation of €745 less any lawful deductions; which  award I have determined is reasonable in the circumstances

Employee Omission-Deduction-Notice of Amount-Time