Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 21 April 2021
163. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the amount in unpaid wages that has been returned to workers following workplace investigations by the Workplace Relations Commission by sector, year and value of wages returned in each of the years 2011 to 2020, inclusive, and in tabular form. [18581/21]
View answerThe Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) is an independent, statutory body under the aegis of my Department. The WRC’s primary functions include the inspection of employment law compliance, the provision of information on employment law, mediation, adjudication, conciliation, facilitation, and advisory services. The WRC inspectorate subsumed the functions of the former National Employment Rights Authority (NERA) with the establishment of the Commission on 1 October 2015.
Inspections carried out by WRC Inspectors operate on a compliance model. This means that an inspector will work with the employer to ensure that the employer fulfils all their statutory obligations and that any outstanding wages or entitlements are given to workers.
Where an employer fails to comply, the inspector can use a range of statutory enforcement measures. These are:
- Fixed Penalty Notice: An employer may be required to pay a fixed amount in respect of breaches of employment law (e.g., €1,500 in relation to failure to provide pay slips).
- Compliance Notice: These require employers to take specific action to remedy contraventions over a range of employment law and failure to comply with the notice could result in a prosecution.
- Prosecution: Employers can be prosecuted in relation to a range of contraventions, including failure to pay statutory national minimum wage rate, employment of foreign nationals without permission to work and failure to keep employment records as prescribed in law.
The Tables attached provide the amounts of unpaid wages returned to workers following workplace investigations by the WRC. The information is set out by sector and value of wages returned in each of the years 2011 to 2020.
