Complainant

Respondent

Parties

Eduard  Ignatiuc

Conor Prunty

Representatives

  Self-representation

 Non-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-00048124-001

13/01/2022

This matter was heard by way of remote hearing pursuant to the Civil Law and Criminal Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 2020 and S.I. No. 359/2020 which designates the WRC as a body empowered to hold remote hearings.

The WRC provided an interpreter to assist with the running of the hearing, the interpretation language was Romanian.  The interpreter provided service under the interpreter’s affirmation.

The complainant gave his evidence under affirmation.

The respondent did not attend the hearing and no explanation was offered for their absence.  The hearing proceeded after a short break to allow for late access by the respondent.

The complainant made written submissions outlining his complaint.  He submitted that he was employed by the respondent as a plasterer from 1 November for three weeks.  He submitted that the agreement was that he would work for €25 per hour. 

The complainant submitted that after two weeks he was only given one week’s pay and that this was reduced unilaterally to €22 per hour.  The complainant submitted that following discussions with their employer, he and two other employees agreed to work for a rate of €22 per hour.

The complainant submitted that after three works and following continuing disagreement regarding the rate and frequency of pay, he left the job.  The complainant submitted that he was not paid for the final two weeks he worked.

The complainant a document from the Revenue Commissioners indicating that he was a self-employed contractor and indicating the rate of taxation he was required to pay.  The complainant confirmed in evidence that he was a self-employed contractor rather than an employee.

The respondent did not attend the hearing of this matter.

Section 1 of the Payment of Wages Act, 1991 deals with the interpretations relevant to the Act and includes the following:

“contract of employment” means—

(a) a contract of service or of apprenticeship, and

(b) any other contract whereby an individual agrees with another person to do or perform personally any work or service for a third person (whether or not the third person is a party to the contract) whose status by virtue of the contract is not that of a client or customer of any profession or business undertaking carried on by the individual, and the person who is liable to pay the wages of the individual in respect of the work or service shall be deemed for the purposes of this Act to be his employer,

whether the contract is express or implied and if express, whether it is oral or in writing;

“employee” means a person who has entered into or works under (or, where the employment has ceased, entered into or worked under) a contract of employment and references, in relation to an employer, to an employee shall be construed as references to an employee employed by that employer; and for the purpose of this definition, a person holding office under, or in the service of, the State (including a member of the Garda Síochána or the Defence Forces) or otherwise as a civil servant, within the meaning of the Civil Service Regulation Act, 1956, shall be deemed to be an employee employed by the State or the Government, as the case may be, and an officer or servant of a local authority for the purposes of the F1[Local Government Act 2001 (as amended by the Local Government Reform Act 2014)], a harbour authority, a health board or F2[a member of staff of an education and training board] shall be deemed to be an employee employed by the authority F2[or board], as the case may be;

“employer”, in relation to an employee, means the person with whom the employee has entered into or for whom the employee works under (or, where the employment has ceased, entered into or worked under) a contract of employment;

The complainant confirmed that he was a self-employed contractor providing services for the contractor.  This contention was supported by the Revenue Commissioners documentation submitted by the complainant.  As the complainant is not an employee under the interpretation of the Act, I find that the complainant cannot avail of the protections of the Act.

Having regard to the written and oral evidence provided in relation to this complaint, my decision is that the complainant is not entitled to avail of the protections afforded by the Payment of Wages Act, 1991.

Payment of Wages Act, 1991 – self-employed contractor – outside the protections of the Act.