Complainant

Respondent

Parties

Sarah  McGuirk

Rhenus Logistics Ireland

Complainant

Respondent

Anonymised Parties

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Representatives

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-00054810-002

31/01/2023

The Complainant commenced her employment with the Respondent on 21 March 2022 as Customs and Compliance Manager – Ireland. Her employment ended on 14 December 2022. She stated that she did not receive payment of a €10,000 bonus to which she was entitled and was promised to her. The Respondent disputed her entitlement and stated that there was no commitment given to pay the bonus.

The Complainant stated that she was entitled to a contractual bonus of €10,000 in respect of the first year of her employment. She further stated that despite having been assured by her line manager on 16 December 2022 that this would be paid in full, she only received a payment of €3,280 on 22 December 2022.

The Respondent asserted that the Complainant’s contract of employment states that bonuses are paid at the discretion of management and that there is not an automatic entitlement to a bonus payment. It was also stated that there was no commitment given to the Complainant to make a guaranteed payment to her of €10,000 in December 2022, as alleged.

The Respondent also stated that the Complainant’s contract includes a bonus schedule, which sets out the criteria for how the bonus would be calculated and which also stipulates that bonuses are only paid in March. The Respondent highlighted that as the Complainant only worked from 21 March 2022 until 14 December 2022, she was not eligible for the bonus because she was not an employee of the company when the bonus was scheduled to be paid.

Section 1(i) of the Payment of Wages Act 1991 defines ‘wages’ in relation to an employee as: 

“…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”

Section 5(1) of the Payment of Wages Act 1991 provides: 

“An employer shall not make a deduction from the wages of an employee (or receive any payment from an employee) unless- (a) the deduction (or payment) is required or authorised to be made by virtue of any statute or any instrument made under statute, (b) the deduction (or payment) is required or authorised to be made by virtue of a term of the employee's contract of employment included in the contract before, and in force at the time of, the deduction or payment, or (c) in the case of a deduction, the employee has given his prior consent in writing to it.” 

The remainder of section 5 provides for other circumstances in which an employer can make a lawful deduction from an employee’s wages which are not applicable to the instant case.

In Marek Balans -v- Tesco Ireland Limited [2020] IEHC 55 approving Dunnes Stores (Cornels court) Limited -v- Lacey [2007] 1 1.R. 478, it was stated that a decision-maker must firstly determine what wages are properly payable under the employment contract before determining whether there has been a deduction under the Payment of Wages Act 1991.  While each case will turn on its own particular facts, it will be necessary to ascertain, in the instant case, (1) whether the pay constituted a term of the Complainant’s contract and (2) if has there been a contravention of Section 5 of the Act.

Regarding the instant complaint, the Complainant stated that she did not receive a bonus of €10,000 she believed she was entitled to. I note in the first instance however that the Respondent denied that the Complainant was ever told that she would be paid €10,000. Furthermore, after reviewing the Complainant's employment contract, the payment of a bonus by the Respondent is at their discretion. I also find that an entitlement to a bonus would only have arisen if the Complainant was employed by the Respondent in March 2023, which was when the bonuses were paid, as outlined in the schedule which was appended to her contract of employment.

Considering all of the foregoing points, I find that this complaint is not well founded.

I find that this complaint is not well founded for the reasons set out above.