ADJUDICATION OFFICER DECISION

Adjudication Reference: ADJ-00061429

Parties:

	Complainant	Respondent
Parties	Daragh Farrell	TH Heating & Plumbing

Representatives

Self-represented

No attendance

Complaint:

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-00074145-001	07/08/2025

Date of Adjudication Hearing: 21/01/2026

Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Seamus Clinton

Procedure:

In accordance with Section 41 of the Workplace Relations Act, 2015following 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 and to present any evidence relevant to the complaint. The hearing was held in the Hearing Rooms of the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC), Carlow. The complainant, Mr. Farrell attended the hearing and gave evidence under oath. The respondent did not attend the hearing. Mr. Farrell clarified at the commencement of the hearing that there was a typo error on his complaint form. He described the respondent company as ‘TH Plumbing & Heating’ instead of ‘TH Heating & Plumbing’. He applied to have this corrected. As per Section 39 of the Organisation of Working Time Act, I am satisfied that the incorrect naming of the employer was a typo error. As I am also satisfied that the hearing notice was sent to the correct business address, and the respondent is not prejudiced in any way, I am exercising my powers to amend the name to the correct respondent as “TH Heating & Plumbing”.

Background:

The complainant was an apprentice plumber employed by the respondent. His complaint is that he was not paid wages for the week of 7th July to 11th July 2025.

Summary of Complainant’s Case:

Summary of Mr Farrell’s Evidence

The complainant gave testimony of an agreement with the respondent to commence a trial week commencing on 7th July 2025. He submitted into evidence text messages with the respondent that he would be paid €400 per week. He said he worked the first week and was not kept on. He requested the wages due and was informed by text message that it was a fortnightly payroll and he would be paid in due course. As he did not receive the wages, he referred a complaint to the WRC in August 2025.

Summary of Respondent’s Case:

There was no representative of the respondent in attendance at the hearing. I am satisfied that the respondent was on notice of the hearing and that the correspondence issued to the correct address.

Findings and Conclusions:

The Law

Section 5(6) states- 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.”

Finding

The unchallenged testimony and text messages put into evidence confirm that the complainant was due wages of €400.00 for the weeks work he carried out. As per the Act, I find that wages are properly payable to the complainant for the weeks work.

I find that the complainant is due wages of €400.00 from the respondent.

Decision:

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

I decide that the complaint pursuant to the Payment of Wages Act is well-founded and that the respondent shall pay to the complainant wages of €400.00.

Dated: 26th January 2026

Workplace Relations Commission Adjudication Officer: Seamus Clinton

Key Words:

Payment of Wages