Complainant

Respondent

Parties

Sean  Fitzgerald

Advanced Mechanical Applications Limited

Representatives

  Self-Represented

 Non-Attendance

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-00069027-001

04/02/2025

The Complainant worked for the Respondent from 5 September 2024 until 29 January 2025 and was paid the net sum of €1151.97 fortnightly. The Complainant submits he was not paid the net sum of €851.97, which was outstanding from his final salary.

The Complainant in sworn evidence said that when he finished working  with the Respondent a final net salary of €851.97 was outstanding. The Complainant exhibited the relevant wage slip for the outstanding sum as well as an email on behalf from  the Respondent verifying the outstanding sum.   He said that he experienced problems previously regarding outstanding pay and corresponded with the Respondent in this instance by text. However, there was no reply. The Complainant in evidence said he was subsequently paid the sum of €300 therefore the outstanding net sum payable to him is €851.97.

The Respondent did not login for the hearing though I am reasonably satisfied it was informed of the arrangements for this remote hearing.

Applicable Law:

Section 1 of the Payment of Wages Act 1991 (“the Act”) defines “wages “as: 

“… in relation to an employee, means any sums payable to the employee by the employer in connection with his employment, including— 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 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: Provided however that the following payments shall not be regarded as wages for the purposes of this definition: any payment in respect of expenses incurred by the employee in carrying out his employment, any payment by way of a pension, allowance or gratuity in connection with the death, or the retirement or resignation from his employment, of the employee or as compensation for loss of office, any payment referable to the employee's redundancy, any payment to the employee otherwise than in his capacity as an employee, any payment in kind or benefit in kind[,any payment by way of tips and gratuities.

Section 5 of the Act in its applicable parts provides:

(1) 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.

(2) An employer shall not make a deduction from the wages of an employee in respect of—

(a) any act or omission of the employee, or

(b) any goods or services supplied to or provided for the employee by the employer the supply or provision of which is necessary to the employment,

unless—

(i) the deduction is required or authorised to be made by virtue of a term (whether express or implied and, if express, whether oral or in writing) of the contract of employment made between the employer and the employee, and

(ii) the deduction is of an amount that is fair and reasonable having regard to all the circumstances (including the amount of the wages of the employee), and

(iii) before the time of the act or omission or the provision of the goods or services, the employee has been furnished with—

(I) in case the term referred to in subparagraph (i) is in writing, a copy thereof,

(II) in any other case, notice in writing of the existence and effect of the term, and

(iv) in case the deduction is in respect of an act or omission of the employee, the employee has been furnished, at least one week before the making of the deduction, with particulars in writing of the act or omission and the amount of the deduction, and

(v) in case the deduction is in respect of compensation for loss or damage sustained by the employer as a result of an act or omission of the employee, the deduction is of an amount not exceeding the amount of the loss or the cost of the damage, and

(vi) in case the deduction is in respect of goods or services supplied or provided as aforesaid, the deduction is of an amount not exceeding the cost to the employer of the goods or services, and

(vii) the deduction or, if the total amount payable to the employer by the employee in respect of the act or omission or the goods or services is to be so paid by means of more than one deduction from the wages of the employee, the first such deduction is made not later than 6 months after the act or omission becomes known to the employer or, as the case may be, after the provision of the goods or services.

(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 previously mentioned) are paid to the employee,

then, except as 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.

The Complainant gave sworn evidence, in association with the relevant wage slip, that he was originally not paid his final net fortnightly salary of €1151.97 but was subsequently paid €300. I am satisfied, based on the uncontested evidence of the Complainant that he was not paid an outstanding sum of €851.97, which is the sum at issue in this case. I decide  his complaint was well founded.

For the reasons outlined above, I find the complaint was well founded, and I direct the Respondent to pay the Complainant compensation of the net amount of wages due to the Complainant which comes to  €851.97.

Payment of Wages Act 1991.