Workplace Relations Commission

Wednesday, 17 January 2024

Questions (444, 445)

Louise O'Reilly

Question:

444. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the 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 and value of wages, in 2023, in tabular form. [1787/24]

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Louise O'Reilly

Question:

445. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number of inspections carried out by the Workplace Relations Commission in 2023, by NACE sector; the number of breaches detected; the types of breaches detected; and the counties in which the breaches were detected, in tabular form. [1788/24]

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Written answers

Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment

I propose to take Questions Nos. 444 and 445 together.

The Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) is an independent, statutory body under the aegis of my Department, established on 1st October 2015 under the Workplace Relations Act 2015. 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.

Table 1 sets out the amount in unpaid wages that has been returned to workers following workplace investigations by the Workplace Relations Commission Inspectorate by sector, and value of wages, in 2023.

Table 2 sets out the number of inspections carried out by the Workplace Relations Commission in 2023, by NACE sector; the number of breaches detected, the type of breaches detected; and the counties in which the breaches were detected.

Table 1 - The amount of unpaid wages recovered by the WRC inspectorate in 2023

Sector	Cases Closed	No in Breach	Incidence of Breach %	Employees	Unpaid Wages
Accounting & Financial Services	18	5	28%	324	€0
Activities of Households as Employers	5	1	20%	9	€0
Administration & Support	20	4	20%	2,420	€397
Advertising & Marketing	6	1	17%	36	€0
Agriculture	39	22	56%	3,237	€35,584
Arts, Entertainment & Recreation	59	23	39%	2,058	€46,423
Beverage Service Activities	222	119	54%	2,769	€159,077
Construction	223	55	25%	5,560	€109,893
Contract Cleaning	19	6	32%	11,497	€57,050
Education	21	12	57%	334	€20,231
Electrical Contracting	7	3	43%	439	€4,213
Employment Placement Agencies	20	8	40%	1,997	€61,822
Equine Activities	11	8	73%	30	€2,474
Fishing	76	25	33%	159	€25,394
Food Service Activities	1,558	910	58%	18,269	€565,409
Hair & Beauty	376	218	58%	1,567	€69,995
Hotels	123	70	57%	8,246	€105,343
Human Health & Social Work	111	25	23%	4,467	€2,984
Information & Communications	33	10	30%	3,812	€5,301
Legal Services	3	2	67%	9	€840
Manufacturing	42	18	43%	5,195	€12,111
Meat Processing	6	5	83%	495	€0
Mechanical Eng. Building Services	9	7	78%	177	€0
Mining & Quarrying	1	1	100%	12	€0
Other Accommodation	10	5	50%	137	€7,415
Other Service Activities	182	73	40%	21,894	€82,952
Postal & Courier Services	4	3	75%	115	€2,776
Professional Services	45	18	40%	5,463	€172,495
Public Administration	8	1	13%	632	€0
Real Estate Activities	2	0	0%	3	€0
Security	16	3	19%	203	€802
Transport	48	20	42%	1,570	€9,603
Travel & Tour Operators	2	1	50%	14	€1,200
Veterinary & Animal Health Services	9	5	56%	206	€3,619
Warehousing & Support Activities	1	1	100%	21	€0
Water Supply, Sewerage & Waste Remediation	4	4	100%	1,235	€0
Wholesale & Retail Trade	1,388	529	38%	28,508	€385,200
TOTAL	4,727	2,221	47%	133,119	€1,950,601

Table 2 - the number of inspections carried out by the Workplace Relations Commission in 2023, by NACE sector; the number of breaches detected, (See table 1 above); the type of breaches detected; and the counties in which the breaches were detected, in tabular form

County	Employment Agency	Employment Permits	Industrial Relations	National Minimum Wage	Organisation of Working Time	Paternity Leave and Benefit	Payment of Wages	Protection of Young Persons	Sick Leave	Workplace Relations	Terms of Employment	Other	Total
Antrim		1	1				3				1		6
Carlow		3		1	13		5	2		1	6		31
Cavan		18		16	132		23	15	2		58		264
Clare		3		3	53		25	10	2		41		137
Cork		17	2	13	204		73	33	6	10	160		518
Donegal	1	14		27	116	1	40	30	1	6	118	2	356
Down					1								1
Dublin	1	111		49	1131		247	94	16	3	447		2099
Galway		12		9	166		103	47	1	8	114	1	461
Kerry		4		4	94		41	28	6	4	84		265
Kildare		2	1	11	162		47	23	3	1	80		330
Kilkenny		3		4	54		18	5		1	30		115
Laois		1		7	19		12	1		2	13		55
Leitrim		3		11	35		14	17		3	37		120
Limerick		18		4	99		35	3	1	5	43		208
Longford		1	2	9	41		16	15		1	42		127
Louth	1	15		13	138		40	9	2	3	71		292
Mayo		1	1	17	98		41	26		3	99		286
Meath		9		5	173		35	13	4		83		322
Monaghan		4	1	2	57		9	13	2	1	32		121
Offaly		4		5	70		28	1		4	39		151
Roscommon				7	44		12	6			30		99
Sligo		7		16	69		26	32	2	7	54		213
Tipperary		1		5	100		20	17	2	3	51		199
Waterford		13	1	13	129		32	25		13	61		287
Westmeath		7		9	78		23	11			60		188
Wexford		13		14	220		78	24	2	5	101	4	461
Wicklow		8		4	67		19	8		7	37		150
Total	3	293	9	278	3563	1	1065	508	52	91	1992	7	7862

Question No. 445 answered with Question No. 444.