WRC secures €1.5 million in unpaid wages for workers

Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) inspectors secured about €1.5 million last year for workers in unpaid wages, according to the organisation's annual report for 2016, which was published on Wednesday.

The report also said that 75 per cent of adjudication complaints made to the WRC were now heard within five months.

The WRC was established in October 2015 as a result of the amalgamation of several organisations in the labour relations field under government reforms.

Speaking at the launch of the report, the Minister of State for Employment and Small Business Pat Breen said: "The reasons for the setting up of the WRC are well known: to simplify the institutional framework from a user point of view; to speed up the delivery of decisions on individual complaints around employment and industrial relations matters; to bring about increased employer compliance with employment rights legislation; while, at the same time, maintaining the exceptional ability of the bodies to resolve collective and individual disputes. This report presents clear evidence that this decision was the right one."

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He said 75 per cent of adjudication complaints were now heard within five months, whereas prior to the establishment of the WRC, complainants could be waiting two years for a hearing.

Speedy delivery

“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.”

Mr Breen said the inspection arm of the WRC had secured €1.5 million for people in terms of unpaid wages and delivered increased compliance with employment legislation on the part of employers.

“This work of the WRC often goes unnoticed, but for people who rely on Government bodies such as the WRC to make sure their rights are upheld, it is a very important service”

WRC director general Oonagh Buckley said: “We are second to none in terms of voluntary dispute resolution; we have put in place an adjudication service that processes almost 15,000 complaints a year – many of them complex and sensitive – within a shorter timeframe than was the case before our establishment. Every year we are reaching approximately one in six employees in the low wage sectors to ensure that employment rights are upheld, and we are actively assisting employers and employees in delivering harmonious workplaces.”