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OVER €1.5 MILLION in unpaid wages have been reimbursed to people who brought their employers to the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC).
As part of the WRC’s annual report, it was found that:
Pat Breen, Minister of State for Employment and Small Business, said that the addition of the new hearing locations in Donegal, Mayo, Kerry, Monaghan and Kilkenny is good news for workers nationwide.
He said: “From a rural Ireland perspective, it is important that complainants and respondents do not have to travel long distances to have cases heard and this development is good news for everyone concerned.”
In its first report ever issued in March last year, it found that there was €665,208 in unpaid wages returned to workers. However, this was over a six month period. Just 513 complaints were made in that time.
The Workplace Relations Commission was established on 1 October 2015. It was designed to speed up labour court issues which had become complex and which had been made up of a number of overlapping State bodies. It was decided to set up the WRC in 2015 to make the process simpler.
The WRC has been at the centre of some high-profile cases in the last 12 months, most recently meeting with both sides involved in the Bus Éireann dispute.
However, it has come in for some serious criticism. Although it was designed to “streamline” industrial relations disputes, there are people who have been waiting years for their case to be called – seemingly falling between the cracks when the new system was set up in 2015.
Breen added that the report presented “clear evidence” that the decision to set up the WRC was the right one. He specifically pointed to the report’s findings that 75% of complaints are now heard within five months.
This is very important in terms of the speedy delivery of justice for all concerned and this outcome was a cornerstone of the reform process.
“I know that the WRC is working to bring about a situation whereby decisions on all complaints are issued within a six month period and this report shows real progress towards achieving that goal.”
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They haven’t ‘secured’ anything… I had an almost €7k judgement in my favour against an employer (for unpaid wages) and they refused to pay out. I called the WRC and was told that there’s nothing they can do, I’d have to take them to the circuit court……
@Alan Daly: Same here Alan. I got awarded 11k by an ex employer by the EAT and i am still waiting 3 years later. Meanwhile he is swanning around in his range rover.
@Sinead Hanley: I got an “out of court settlement” at the EAT, which was registered by the court. My ex employers had 6 weeks to pay, On the last day of the 6 weeks they made a plea of inability to pay. It took another 2 months of negotiation to reach a staged payment settlement. I got some, not all by any means. But then i’m now suspicious of my solicitor, who took a large bite of any money advanced.
In the case of a settlement awarded by the EAT that isn’t paid you have recourse to the Minister for labour and the employer can be forced to pay.
@Dave Doyle: this is why the reports from the wrc should be taken with a pinch of salt. Even though they call themselves quasi-judicial, no finding is legally binding, and can only be used as a reference when you go to “real” court. Similarly, it’s a lottery as to pleading before a union commissioner (who almost always find for the employee) or an IBEC one (who are generally more impartial), but you can say absolutely anything and not have to prove it or be cross examined. If the wrc funds in your favor, it is simple maths to go to the high court or circuit court or to pay out (which you then have to pay tax on as well before any legal guys take their cut).
The whole system is a talking shop designed to let Union hacks pretend to be judges, and should be replaced with a fully legal body that is legally binding, but also manned by competent workplace judges.
With interest of course ?
If your employer hasn’t a criminal case against you then the ruling is very much in favor of the employee.
If employers paid people what they are owed instead of trying to use people as slaves there would be no need for cases against them.
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