ADJUDICATION OFFICER DECISION
Adjudication Reference: ADJ-00039588
Parties:
| Complainant | Respondent |
Parties | Mr Thomas Clarke | Rg Civils Limited |
Complaint(s):
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-00050523-001 | 04/05/2022 |
Date of Adjudication Hearing: 24/02/2023
Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Paul McKeon
Procedure:
In accordance with Section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act, 2015 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.
The hearing was held in public, and evidence was taken on oath pursuant to the Workplace Relations (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2021, amending the Workplace Relations Act 2015.
I explained the changes arising from the judgment of the Supreme Court in Zalewski v Adjudication Officer and WRC, Ireland, and the Attorney General [2021] IESC 24 on 6/04/21 and the Complainant agreed to proceed in the knowledge that the decision issuing from the WRC would disclose his identity.
All of the evidence, submissions submitted have been considered herein. While the parties are named in this decision, for the remainder of the document, I will refer to Mr Clarke as “the Complainant” and Rg Civilis Limited as “the Respondent.”
The Respondent did not attend the hearing.
Background:
The Complainant submitted a complaint on the 04 May 2022 under Section 6 of the Payment of Wages Act, 1991.
The Complainant contends that the Respondent has not paid him wages to the amount of €600 which was due to be properly paid to him on the 23 December 2021.
He states that the refusal to make such a payment is contrary to the Payment of Wages Act 1991.
The hearing of this complaint was originally scheduled to take place on 05 January 2023 but was adjourned due to the Respondent informing the WRC scheduling team over the Christmas holiday period by way of telephone that he was out of the country when the first hearing date was issued and also for the date the hearing would take place.
In the interest of fair procedures and taking into account the hearing date was issued close enough to the Christmas holidays period, I adjourned the hearing in order to afford the parties the opportunity to attend a second hearing date.
In this regard, the hearing arrangements for the hearing were issued from the Workplace Relations Commission to the Respondent at its registered address by way of letter dated 17 January 2023 to attend a hearing on the 24 February 2023.
On this note, the Respondent did not attend the hearing on the 24 February 2023 and did not submit a defence in the case.
Accordingly, I am satisfied that the Respondent was on notice of the within claim to the Workplace Relations Commission and was properly notified of the hearing arrangements on 17 January 2023 and that it is appropriate for me to adjudicate on the claim before me.
I also further note that there was no further application by or on behalf of the Respondent for a postponement or adjournment of the hearing arranged for 24 February 2023.
Furthermore, I was not informed at the hearing of a reason for the Respondents non-attendance and did not receive any communication after the hearing offering explanation for non-attendance.
In this regard, I am satisfied that the Respondent was notified of the hearing on the 17 January 2023, and I am also satisfied that every attempt was made to contact the Respondent to inform them of the hearing date.
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Summary of Complainant’s Case:
The Complainant submitted a complaint on the 04 May 2022 under Section 6 of the Payment of Wages Act, 1991.
The Complainant contends that the Respondent has not paid him wages to the amount of €600 which was due to be properly paid to him on the 23 December 2021.
He states that the refusal to make such a payment is contrary to the Payment of Wages Act 1991.
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Summary of Respondent’s Case:
The Respondent did not attend the hearing of the complaint. |
Findings and Conclusions:
The Complainant submitted a complaint on the 04 May 2022 under Section 6 of the Payment of Wages Act, 1991 alleging that that the Respondent has not paid him wages to the amount of €600 which was due to be properly paid to him on the 23 December 2021.
He states that the refusal to make such a payment is contrary to the Payment of Wages Act 1991.
The definition of Wages in the Payment of Wages Act 1991 is as follows:
“wages”, in relation to an employee, means any sums payable to the employee by the employer in connection with his employment, including—
(a) any fee, bonus or commission, or any holiday, sick or maternity pay, or any other emolument, referable to his employment, whether payable under his contract of employment or otherwise, and (b) any sum payable to the employee upon the termination by the employer of his contract of employment without his having given to the employee the appropriate prior notice of the termination, being a sum paid in lieu of the giving of such notice.
Section 5 (6) states:
(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.
From the uncontested evidence provided by the Complainant that he is due €600.00, I accept such evidence as an accurate summary of events, and I now order the Respondent to make this payment to the Complainant.
This payment should be made within 42 days from the date of this decision.
CA-00050523-001 The Complaint is 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.
CA-00050523-001- seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 6 of the Payment of Wages Act, 1991 is well founded.
From the uncontested evidence provided by the Complainant that he is due €600.00, I accept such evidence as an accurate summary of events and decide the following:
The Complainant contends that he is due €600.00.
I now order the Respondent to make this payment to the Complainant.
This payment should be made within 42 days from the date of this decision.
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Dated: 10-05-2023
Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Paul McKeon
Key Words:
Payment of Wages Act, 1991. |