Labour Relations Commission - Contract Workers

CptSternn

Hello. I am hoping someone here can help me with a question.

I just started working for a contract company in Dublin. I had the misfortune of working for this same company two years ago and had a long list of issue then as well, so I should have know better than to work for them again, but I have been out of work for two years and jumped at the chance for full-time employment.

Last time I worked for them they took months in between payments to pay me. I was supposed to get paid every week. This was standard. Over the course of my 11 month contract they had three times where I was waiting 3-4 weeks for a payment. Each time they had a different excuse. Once the billing system had problems. Another time an employee left for holiday and didn't put some payment information through. Then there was the time they said they upgraded their billing system, so I didn't get paid for a month. I eventually got all of my payments, but with long pauses in between of up to a month.

Well, I am back working for them again. I started in the middle of June. They said I would be paid in three weeks. Then they came back and said four weeks. Now they are saying the first week didn't count as a start date as I started on a Tuesday instead of a Monday, so that will push it back another week and because of the bank holiday it will delay my payment even more.

So I started in the middle of June, and they are telling me the earliest I can expect my first pay check is the middle of August, even though I am supposed to get paid weekly.

In the meantime I just signed off in June and have no savings and am completely skinned. They could care less and act like everyone should be able to go for almost three months with no money coming in. I have a wife and child - not to mention have been out of work for sometime already.

Even better - I explained this situation just as I did here, and they told me not only could they not help, that there was a problem getting my mangers approval for my hours, something my manager denies as he said he approved the hours the same day they were brought to him, and they are saying after my first pay check in August the next won't be until 3-4 week after that as the approval wasn't there and they couldn't run it through the system. So they are already telling me my second paycheck won't be available until the middle of September. We are still in JULY!

Can the Labour Relations Commission help in this matter?

D.McC

I think they can. I don’t have much experience in the realm of the contract worker, but as far as I know (open to correction on this) the organisation contracting the employee is assumed to be responsible for paying the wages of the employee.

I think you might be able to take a case in either the LRC or The Rights Commission under the payment of wages act

Clauric

Under the law, a company can not not pay you when they said they will. There is a contract/terms of employment, which is a legally enforceable document, signed by both parties, which should clearly stipulate the hours that you are expected to work, the renumeration per hour/week/month, and the payment period e.g. weekly, fortnightly, monthly (can not be greater than monthly).

Simply put, if they don't pay you when you agreed the payments, then they are in breach of the contract.

I would suggest NERA as the first port of call. They are well equiped to give you exact legal advice on where to go from here.

The Labour Relations Commission would not be in a position to help, although, the Rights Commissioners would probably hear the case, if you wanted to make a formal complaint. From what I understand, this process is taking up to 6 months currently.