ADJUDICATION OFFICER DECISION
Adjudication Reference: ADJ-00045751
Parties:
| Complainant | Respondent |
Parties | John Gleeson | John Mount t/a The Bakers Table |
Representatives | Self-represented | No attendance |
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-00056541-001 | 08/05/2023 |
Date of Adjudication Hearing: 16/11/2023
Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Gaye Cunningham
Procedure:
In accordance with Section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act, 2015following 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 complaint is that the Respondent, in contravention of the Payment of Wages Act 1991, failed to pay to the Complainant wages properly payable.
Summary of Complainant’s Case:
The Complainant stated that he was employed as a Chef by the Respondent for some 5 weeks from 17 March to 21 April 2023 at a rate of €16 per hour. At the end of his employment, he was owed wages for the last two weeks and 2 days of his employment. He produced his own records of hours worked and payments received. He also was due payment in lieu of annual leave based on 8% of hours worked. The total shortfall in wages owed was €1,342.
Summary of Respondent’s Case:
The Respondent was notified of the date, time and venue for the hearing but did not attend or provide an explanation for his absence.
Findings and Conclusions:
The Complainant was employed by the Respondent from 17 March to 21 April 2023. During that period, he was not paid for the period of 5 April to 21 April 2023. He was not paid for accrued annual leave of 21 hours.
Section 6 of the Payment of Wages Act 1991 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. Based on the uncontested evidence of the Complainant, I find that the deficiency or non-payment of wages in the amount of €1,342 constituted an unlawful deduction from the wages of the Complainant. I find the complaint to be well founded. |
Decision:
Section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act 2015 requires that I make a decision in relation to the complaint in accordance with the relevant redress provisions under Schedule 6 of that Act.
Based on the uncontested evidence of the Complainant, I find that the deficiency or non-payment of wages in the amount of €1,342 constituted an unlawful deduction from the wages of the Complainant. I have decided the complaint is well founded and I require the Respondent to pay to the Complainant the sum of €1,342.
Dated: 18th December 2023
Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Gaye Cunningham
Key Words:
Payment of Wages, complaint well founded. |