WRC awards construction worker €2,730 for incorrect pay rate

The Workplace Relations Commission awarded Oleg Birlea €2,730 in compensation after finding his construction employer had paid him below the applicable Sectoral Employment Order rate. In a decision dated 26 April 2022, the WRC found Birlea was a Category B worker entitled to €17.50 an hour, but had received €9.80. The WRC also awarded €2,730 for the failure to provide written employment terms and €682.50 for unpaid Sectoral Employment Order entitlements, including pension, sick pay and death-in-service payment. It directed Stone Builders Contracts Limited to review Birlea’s hours and ensure he received €17.50 for each hour worked from 22 March 2020. Birlea received €2,062.40 in unpaid annual leave, plus €1,365 compensation for the breach, and €329.23 for unpaid public holidays with €682.50 compensation. The WRC found the Payment of Wages complaint was brought outside the time limit and was not well founded; the merits were not decided. The company had argued Birlea was a general labourer. The WRC found he had prior construction experience and, because he had no trade apprenticeship or qualification, classified him as Category B.