ADJUDICATION OFFICER DECISION

Adjudication Reference: ADJ-00055614

Parties:

	Complainant	Respondent
Parties	Cian McGuinness	Calvin Dunbar

Representatives

Complainant

Not represented

Complaint(s):

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-00067794-001	01/12/2024

Date of Adjudication Hearing: 26/05/2025

Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Shay Henry

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 complainant, Cian McGuiness, alleges that he worked for the respondent, Calvin Dunbar, for 5 days without remuneration. He made numerous attempts to secure the money due to him and was promised that the sum would be paid. However this did not happen.

The respondent did not attend the hearing. The complainant gave evidence under oath/affirmation at the hearing.

Summary of Complainant’s Case:

The complainant worked from 6th August 2024 until the 10th August 2024 for the respondent. Despite numerous requests he was not paid for this work. On the eve of the hearing the respondent sent €400 to the complainant’s bank account. However, on the day the hearing was held this transfer had not yet cleared.

Summary of Respondent’s Case:

There was no appearance by or on behalf of the respondent at the hearing.

Findings and Conclusions:

Section 5 of the Payment of Wages Act states;

5.—(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.

Section 6 of the Act states;

(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 aforesaid) are paid to the employee,

then, except in so 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.

There was no appearance by or on behalf of the respondent at the hearing. I am satisfied that the said respondent was informed in writing of the date, time and place at which the hearing to investigate the complaint would be held.

As there was no appearance by the respondent at the hearing I accept the evidence given by the complainant that he is owed the sum of €400 in respect of unpaid wages and his complaint is well founded. This amount due was calculated by reference to the minimum wage and the number of hours worked. I note that in evidence the complainant stated that a transfer for this sum had been made by the respondent to the complainant’s bank account on the day before the hearing but had not yet cleared by the time of the hearing. For the avoidance of doubt, this payment, if and when it clears in the complainant’s bank account, shall meet the required compensation payment.

Decision:

Section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act 2015 requires that I make a decision in relation to the complaint(s)/dispute(s) in accordance with the relevant redress provisions under Schedule 6 of that Act.

The complaint is well-founded and I order the respondent to pay the complainant the sum of €400.

Dated: 30th May 2025.

Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Shay Henry

Key Words:

Non payment of wages