Complainant

Respondent

Parties

John  Power

IBSL Limited trading as Irish Biotech Systems

Representatives

Self-Represented

No Appearance

Act

Complaint Reference No.

Date of Receipt

Complaint seeking adjudication by the Workplace Relations Commission under section 6 of the Payment of Wages Act, 1991

CA-00060774-001

31/12/2023

The Complainant commenced employment with the Respondent on 1st September 2010. For the entirety of his employment, the Complainant was a permanent, full-time employee. The employment in question ended on 7th July 2023.

On 31st December 2023, the Complainant referred the present complaint to the Commission. Herein, he alleged that the Respondent made an illegal deduction to the value of €1,024.31 from his wages. No responding submission was received from the Complainant’s former employer.

An initial hearing in relation to this matter was convened for 5th July 2024. There was no appearance by or on behalf of the Respondent on this date. During the preliminary investigations in relation to the complaint, it was discovered that the notice of hearing had been issued to the Respondent’s trading name, as opposed to their legal title. In circumstances whereby a concern arose regarding the Respondent’s notification of the hearing, the matter was reconvened for the date listed above. The invite to this hearing was issued to the correct legal title of the Complainant’s former employer. Again, there was no appearance by or on behalf of the Respondent at this reconvened hearing. In such circumstances, the hearing continued in the absence of the Respondent.

The Complainant gave brief evidence in support of his complaint. No issues as to my jurisdiction to hear the complaint were raised at any stage of the proceedings.

By submission, the Complainant stated that the Respondent withheld the sum of €1,024.31 from his final wages. By contemporaneous correspondence, the Respondent stated that this was due to the fact that the Complainant had failed to return certain items of company equipment. By correspondence and in evidence, the Complainant stated that he had no issues regarding the return of the equipment on the termination of his employment, and that the same remains available for collection on the date of hearing.

As set out above, the Respondent did not offer any submission seeking to rebut the allegations raised by the Complainant. Neither the Respondent, nor any representative on their behalf, attended the hearing as scheduled. Given that no application for adjournment was made prior to the hearing, and no explanation was received regarding their non-attendance, the matter proceeded in their absence.

Based on the uncontested evidence of the Complainant, it is apparent that the Respondent made a deduction of €1,024.31 from his wages.

As no submission was received alleging that the same is a legal deduction for the purposes of Section 5 of the Act, I find that the complaint is well-founded.

I find that the complaint is well-founded, and the Complainant’s application succeeds.

Regarding redress, I award the Complainant the sum of €1,024.31 in respect of the illegal deduction from wages. Said payment should be subject to all normal deductions as income.

Deduction, Company Property