Complainant

Respondent

Parties

Michael Cronin

Aghadoe Hospitality Limited

Representatives

Terence F. Casey & Company, Solicitors

Irish Business & Employers’ Confederation

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-00039872-001

16/09/2020

Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 27 of the Organisation of Working Time Act, 1997

CA-00039872-002

16/09/2020

The complainant commenced working as a waiter in the Aghadoe Heights Hotel in Kerry in June 1999.  In January 2016, he moved to the role of bar manager, and by 2020, he earned an annual salary of €26,816.

On February 20th 2020, the complainant resigned and he finished up on March 17th 2020.  A copy of his letter of resignation which was submitted in evidence shows that he resigned on good terms.  His complaint for consideration here is that he is owned money in respect of additional hours worked in the years before he resigned.

In the respondent’s written submission in advance of the hearing, two preliminary issues were raised:

1.  The complainant has not provided particulars of his complaints.

2.  These complaints were submitted to the WRC on September 16th 2020.  The complainant finished working for the respondent exactly six months previously on March 17th 2020.  The time frame during which I can consider a breach of the Payment of Wages Act and the Organisation of Working Time Act is limited to the six months prior to the submission of the complaints and is therefore confined to the period from March 17th to 20th when the complainant was not at work.

1.  The Complainant has not Provided Particulars of his Complaints

On the e-complaint form he sent to the WRC on September 16th 2020, the complainant provided the following narrative under the heading of the Payment of Wages Act 1991:

“I am owned considerable hours that I worked but have not been paid for.”

Under the heading of the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997, he stated:

“I have not received my holiday entitlements in full.”

No further evidence was submitted.  On October 30th 2020, a case officer from the WRC wrote to the complainant’s solicitor seeking further particulars.  Mr O’Connor replied as follows:

“Please note my client should have been paid on a weekly basis up to the date of the termination of his employment.  Therefore, the loss is not on one particular day but on each weekly date of payment until the date of termination.”

At the hearing, the complainant said that he worked more than 40 hours a week regularly over the last two years.  He has no access to the documents on which these hours were recorded.

2.  Time Limit for Submitting a Complaint

Section 41(6) of the Workplace Relations Act 2015 sets out the timeframe within which complaints may be submitted for adjudication:

“…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 the contravention to which the complaint relates.”

An extension of time is provided for at subsection 8 of this section:

“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.”

It is clear from this section of the Workplace Relations Act that, “for reasonable cause,” an extension of the time limit from six months to 12 months for submitting a complaint may be permitted.  No application has been made for an extension of the time limit.

Finding on the Preliminary Issues

It is apparent from the complainant’s evidence at the hearing that his complaint about the non-payment of wages is related to additional hours that he claims he worked in the years prior to his resignation on February 20th 2020.  He submitted no details regarding his complaint about holiday entitlements.

The respondent’s position is that the complainant was paid an annual salary to include additional hours when necessary. 

These complaints were submitted on September 16th 2020 and it is apparent that they relate to a claim for overtime pay going back some years before the complainant resigned on February 20th 2020.  As he submitted these complaints to the WRC six months after he resigned, apart from the lack of detail regarding the allegation of unpaid hours and holidays, I have no jurisdiction to conduct an enquiry into an event which occurred more than six months before the complaint were submitted.

I decide that I have no jurisdiction to adjudicate on these complaints because they have been submitted outside the legal time limit prescribed at section 41(6) of the Workplace Relations Act 2015.

Complaints are outside the six-month time limit.