ADJUDICATION OFFICER DECISION

Adjudication Reference: ADJ-00035192

Parties:

	Complainant	Respondent
Parties	Michael Neuciler	Reflex Refrigeration Services Limited

Representatives

Self represented

No appearance

Complaint:

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-00046288-001	17/09/2021

Date of Adjudication Hearing: 18/05/2022

Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Gaye Cunningham

Procedure:

In accordance with Section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act, 2015 andSection 6 of the Payment of Wages Act 1991, following the referral of the complaint to me by the Director General, I inquired into the complaint and gave the parties an opportunity to be heard by me and to present to me any evidence relevant to the complaint.

Background:

The Complainant contends that he has not been paid the sum of €1,467.90, being wages properly payable and unlawfully withheld.

Summary of Complainant’s Case:

The Complainant was employed as a Refrigeration Engineer from 17th May 2021. He received his wages as normal by credit transfer. He contends that although there was some family dispute, he worked as normal for the company and carried out some tasks for one of the brothers who is now contending that he was not properly employed by them. He received a letter on 6th September 2021 telling him he was dismissed for gross misconduct. The claim under the Payment of Wages Act is for 3 weeks pay at €489.30 per week. The Complainant produced documentation to prove he had a job offer dated 13th May 2021 from the Respondent Company.

Summary of Respondent’s Case:

The Respondent Company did not attend the hearing or send a representative. Correspondence issued outlining a family estrangement among Directors in the Company and that Director G had no authority to employ the Complainant.

Findings and Conclusions:

Section 6 of the Act provides:

(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.

Having considered the evidence given by the Complainant, I find that the amount of €1,467.90 was wages properly payable to the Complainant in this case and was unlawfully withheld.

I have decided that the complaint is well founded and require the Respondent to pay to the Complainant the sum of €1,467.90 less any lawful deductions.

Decision:

I have decided that the complaint is well founded and require the Respondent to pay to the Complainant the sum of €1,467.90 less any lawful deductions.

Dated: 25th July 2022.

Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Gaye Cunningham

Key Words:

Wages withheld. Complaint well founded.