Complainant

Respondent

Anonymised Parties

 Construction Worker 

 A Groundwork Contractor 

Representatives

Shonagh Byrne SIPTU

Act

Complaint/Dispute Reference No.

Date of Receipt

Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under Section 23 of the Industrial Relations (Amendment) Act, 2015

CA-00035374-001

23/03/2020

This matter was heard by way of remote hearing pursuant to the Civil Law and Criminal Law (miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2020 and SI 359/2020 which said instrument designates the  Workplace Relations Commission as a body empowered to hold remote hearings pursuant to Section 31 of the Principal Act. The said remote hearing was set up and hosted by an appointed member of the WRC administrative staff. I am satisfied that no party was prejudiced by having this hearing conducted remotely.  I am also satisfied that I was in a position to fully exercise my functions and I made all relevant inquiries in the usual way.

This matter came before me on foot of a workplace relations complaint form dated the 23rd of March 2021. The Complainant was represented and was facilitated in the presentation of his evidence with an Interpreter. A comprehensive submission was opened to me. The case being made is that the Complainant was at all relevant times an Employee governed by the terms of Sectoral Employment Order (Construction Sector) 2017 and that the Employer breached Statutory rights contained therein.

I have carefully considered the evidence adduced in the course of this hearing. The Complainant commenced employment in January 2019 and worked until October 2019. Between 9 and 10 months.

I have been advised that the Complainant was at all relevant times an Employee governed by the terms of Sectoral Employment Order (Construction Sector) 2017 adopted by Statutory Instrument no. 455 of 2017 in furtherance of recommendation from the Labour Court pursuant to Section 16 of the Industrial Relations (Amendment) Act 2015. The Complainant’s representative drew my attention to certain parts of the SI 455 and in particular has made the case that the Respondent company qualifies as a “building firm” and that the Complainantis a Category 1 worker as determined by the Labour Court and therefore entitled to be paid a minimum rate of €17.04 per hour – set out on pages 8 through 11 of the SI.

I understand that the Complainant had no Contract of Employment indicating what his rate of pay was. However, it seems that based on his own calculations he was getting paid in and around €15.00 per hour. This he feels was wrong, as he came to this job with nearly twenty years’ construction experience in his native Greece and was therefore entitled to be considered a category 1 worker at the very least.

The circumstances around the termination of this employment are not clear to me, but I am advised that it was only after the termination of the employment that the Complainant became aware of the underpayment. He says he was told by some Polish colleagues that he was getting paid the correct rate. He sent an email on or about the 10th of November 2019 to CH, pointing out that there had been a consistent underpayment. The Complainant says he followed up this email with another, but never got any response.

On balance, I am satisfied that this is a workplace that is correctly covered by SI 455 of 2017. It is therefore clear that this workplace ought properly be governed by the terms of the sectoral employment order referenced in the SI. No argument has been advanced to dissuade me of that.

The Complainant has suggested that the weekly differential was somewhere between €86.00 and €90.00 – depending on the season, winter or summer. The Complainant worked there for 36 weeks.

The Complainant referenced a further contravention by reason of the failure of the Respondent to register him in Construction Workers Pension Scheme. No real evidence was led here though it seems clear that the Complainant was not provided with any information in this regard.

Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under Section 23 of the Industrial Relations (Amendment) Act, 2015

CA-00035374-001 – The Complaint herein is well founded, and I require that payment of compensation in the amount of €3,500.00 is just and equitable in all the circumstances.