ADJUDICATION OFFICER DECISION
Adjudication Reference: ADJ-00050844
Parties:
| Complainant | Respondent |
Parties | Catriona O'Leary | Applegreen Limited |
Representatives | No appearance | 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-00062204-001 | 13/03/2024 |
Date of Adjudication Hearing: 24/06/2024
Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Gaye Cunningham
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.
Background:
The complaint is that the Respondent made deductions from the Complainant’s wages contrary to the Payment of Wages Act 1991.
Summary of Complainant’s Case:
The Complainant was employed as a Retail Assistant at one of the Respondent’s service stations from 21 October 2021 to 19 January 2022. She submits that she had to pay the Respondent for till shortages and for customers who drove away without paying for their fuel.
Summary of Respondent’s Case:
The Respondent contends there was no deductions from the Complainant’s wages and in any event, the complaint is clearly out of time.
Findings and Conclusions:
There was no appearance by either party at the hearing convened for this complaint. The substance of the complaint and response was put forward at a hearing convened on 22 April 2024. That hearing considered a large number of complaints submitted under various Acts. No complaint was submitted under the Payment of Wages Act 1991 until this instant complaint, received by the WRC on 13 March 2024.
Section 41 (6) of the Workplace Relations Act 2015 provides:
“Subject to subsection (8), an adjudication officer shall not entertain a complaint referred to him or her under this section if it has been presented to the Director General after the expiration of the period of 6 months beginning on the date of the contravention to which the complaint relates.
Section 41 (8) provides:
“an adjudication officer may entertain a complaint or dispute to which this section applies presented or referred to the Director General after the period referred to in subsection (6) or (7) (but not later than 6 months after such expiration), as the case may be, if he or she is satisfied that the failure to present the complaint or refer the dispute within that period was due to reasonable cause”.
This complaint was received on 13 March 2024, some 26 months after the employment of the Complainant ended. As the maximum time limit within I can hear such complaints is twelve months, I have no jurisdiction to entertain this complaint. The complaint is out of time and not 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.
I have decided that I have no jurisdiction to entertain this complaint. The complaint is out of time and not well founded.
Dated: 12/08/2024
Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Gaye Cunningham
Key Words:
Payment of wages, deductions, out of time. |