Deductions from wages without consent

bit of a long story!

I have been out a few times in the last few months due to pregnancy related illness.

I was told that the appropriate deductions would be taken from my wages, which i aggreed, but they would be taken out per week and not in one lump sum, as i am weekly paid.

I was out at the start of this week for 2 days but returned to work yesterday and then discovered that i havent been paid anything this week.

I have pay slips that are up to date and have no deductions on them.

Can anyone advise me of what action i can take in this situation?

Deductions from wages without consent

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lalabobo said:

I was told that the appropriate deductions would be taken from my wages, which i aggreed

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Eh? Which is it?

but they would be taken out per week and not in one lump sum, as i am weekly paid.

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Did you explicitly (in writing) agree that deductions should be done gradually and not in a lump sum?

then discovered that i havent been paid anything this week. I have pay slips that are up to date and have no deductions on them.

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You mean you are missing money but the details are not explained on your payslips?

no i didnt consent to it in writing, just verbally. This was a few months ago and it wasnt mentioned since. my pay slips dont have any deductions on them and the person who pays the wages, hasnt got a record of the amount of days that are to be deducted either so wouldnt have known how much to take from them.

Does your terms of employment have anything in about deductions from salary?

Regardless of what the terms/contract of employment says it is a statutory right for employees not to have deductions made to salary without their explicit agreement and to have those deductions clearly detailed on a payslip.

Lalabobo/Clubman,

Whilst there is a general statutory right not to have deductions made under section 5(1) of the Payment of Wages Act 1991, there are also exceptions to this general rule.

Section 5(5)(a)(I) of the 1991 Act provides that an employer may make a unilateral deduction (with or without prior consent) where the purpose of the deduction is to reimburse the employer in respect of any overpayment of wages. Any amount deducted cannot be greater than the total sum of overpayment.

In this case, it seems that lalabobo was overpaid on the previous weeks she was out sick and a deduction in respect of those overpayments have been made this week. If this is the case, this is legitimate.

Having said that, section 4 of the 1991 Act provides that every employee is entitled to receive an accurate, up to date statement of wages that clearly sets out any deductions. A failure to do so may lead to a fine of up to 1,000Euro.

I would recommend that lalabobo ask her employer for an up-to-date payslip setting out exactly which has been deducted and on what basis. If the employer is not amenable to that, there is the option of making a claim to the Rights Commissioner under the Payment of Wages Act 1991 on the basis of a failure to provide a correct statement, and possibly, on the grounds of an unlawful deduction - in addition it appears that lalabobo may bring a claim to a Rights Commissioner under the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997 as it appears that proper records have not been kept of lalabobo's work attendance.