Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)
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If an Employer/Respondent fails to comply with a decision of an Adjudication Officer of the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) within the prescribed time, an application may be made to the District Court in accordance with section 43 of the Workplace Relations Act 2015 for an Order directing the Respondent to carry out the decision. The application can be made by the following:

- The complainant concerned;

- The WRC;

- A Trade Union, with consent of the employee; or

- An excepted body of which the employee/complainant is a member.

Section 51 of the WRA 2015, further provides that failure to comply with an Order issued by the District Court in accordance with Section 43 is an offence and that a person guilty of that offence shall be liable, on summary conviction, to a Class A fine or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or both.

Where applications are made directly to the District Court by a complainant or a trade union or excepted body on behalf of a complainant, the WRC has no direct knowledge of the outcome in relation to compliance with the Order.

In terms of applications made to the District Court by the WRC, some 15 such cases have been initiated: payment has been confirmed on foot of 6 orders issued and 4 respondents have been convicted for failure to comply with a Court Order issued. The remaining cases are ongoing.