PWD252

PARTIES:

DIVISION:

SUBJECT:

Appeal of Adjudication Officer Decision No's: ADJ-00051017 (CA-00062317-001)

BACKGROUND:

This is an appeal of an Adjudication Officer’s Decision made pursuant to the Payment of Wages Act, 1991. The appeal was heard by the Labour Court in accordance with Section 44 of the Workplace Relations Act, 2015. 

The following is the Court's Decision:

DECISION:

1. Background to the Appeal

This is an appeal by Mr Aidan McNally (‘the Complainant’) from a decision of an Adjudication Officer (ADJ-00051017, dated 14 August 2024) under the Payment of Wages Act 1991 (‘the Act’). Notice of Appeal was received in the Court on 5 September 2024. The Court heard the appeal in Dublin on 10 January 2025.

2. Preliminary Objection

It is submitted on behalf of Ocean Well Limited (‘the Respondent’) that the Complainant’s originating complaint was submitted to the Workplace Relations Commission outside the statutory time frame for so doing. It is common case that the payment from which the Complainant alleges an unlawful deduction was taken was received by him on 19 September 2022. It is also common case that the Complainant’s complaint under the Act was received by the Workplace Relations Commission on 14 March 2024, some eighteen months after the date of payment.

3. The Complainant’s Submission

The Complainant submits that his complaint would not be out of time, if the time limit was reckoned from the date on which he acquired knowledge of the alleged unlawful deduction.

The Court gave the Complainant an opportunity to identify a provision in the Act on which his submission could be grounded. He did not identify any such provision.

4. The Law

The time period within which a complainant is permitted to initiate a complaint under the Act is provided for in section 41(6) of the Workplace Relations Act 2015 as follows:

“(6) 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.”

An Adjudication Officer (or the Labour Court on appeal) can extend the time for initiation a complaint under the Act for up to a further six months in accordance with section 41(8) of the Act of 2015:

“(8) An adjudication officer may entertain a complaint or dispute to which this section applies presented or referred to the Director General after the expiration of 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.”

5. Discussion and Decision

There is no basis in the statute for the Complainant’s contention that the limitation period under the Act runs from the date of an employee’s knowledge that an unlawful deduction may have been made from his or wages. The limitation period runs from the date of any such deduction, is normally limited to six months from such date and can be extended, up to a maximum of a further six months only, where the Complainant establishes reasonable cause that explains and justifies their delay in submitting their complaint.

As there is no dispute in this case about the applicable dates and because it is common case that the Complainant delayed for eighteen months after the date of the impugned payment before submitting his complaint under the Act, the Court has no option but to dismiss his appeal and uphold the decision of the Adjudication Officer.

The Court so decides.

	Signed on behalf of the Labour Court
	Alan Haugh
AL	______________________
13th January 2025	Deputy Chairman

NOTE

Enquiries concerning this Decision should be addressed to Amy Leonard, Court Secretary.