Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE)
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151. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if he will examine the legislation in relation to the non-payment of salaries by a company (details supplied); if the legislation will be updated to ensure further protections for employees in cases in which an employer has not provided wages due, given that the process in the WRC can be lengthy and staff who are owed wages should not have to wait; if he will make legislative changes to accelerate this process to reduce the wait time for staff; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13581/23]

Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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Statutory and contractual employment terms apply in relation to the payment of wages. Failure to pay all or part of the wages due to an employee is considered an unlawful deduction and a complaint can be made under the Payment of Wages Act, 1991, which establishes a range of rights for all employees in relation to payment of wages.

If an employee believes that their employer has made an unlawful deduction from their pay, they may refer a complaint to the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC). Complaints should be made using the online complaint form available on workplacerelations.ie.

A complaint must be brought within 6 months of the date of the deduction. The time limit may be extended for up to a further 6 months, but only where there is a reasonable cause which prevented the person from bringing the complaint in the normal time limit.

I must emphasise that the WRC is independent in the exercise of its quasi-judicial function. I have no direct involvement in its day-to-day operations, including the timeline for hearing complaints. I therefore do not intend to amend the legislation to prescribe a timeframe for hearing cases taken under the Payment of Wages Act.

More generally, I am informed that there are a range of factors that impact on the WRC’s scheduling timeframe. These include party or representative availability, postponement requests from parties and appellate body scheduling.

However, I understand that the WRC endeavours to minimise delay to the parties and continues to schedule hearings unless a postponement is granted in advance. In addition, I am informed by the WRC that if there is a request from both parties for an urgent hearing, the WRC can and do prioritise these cases for hearing.