The Workplace Relations Commission directed Affinity Plus T/a Affinity Plus Home Support Limited Aka Affinity Plus Homecare Limited to pay Cliona Tracey Nee Flood €1,300 for unpaid wages, finding that travel between clients was necessary working time. Four of her eight complaints were upheld; four were found not well founded.
The decision was dated 1 September 2023. Flood worked for the home-care company from April to August 2022, when she was dismissed. She said she had been promised €13 an hour but was paid only for time assigned to clients’ homes, and argued that her dismissal followed concerns she raised about pay and working conditions. The company cited probation and concerns about her work.
The officer found that Flood’s contract entitled her to pay for the full shift, including necessary travel between clients. The €1,300 award was lower than her €1,684.53 estimate after the officer allowed for breaks and early finishes. The company was also ordered to pay €312 for one week’s notice, including €52 attributed to unpaid working time. Two further awards of €500 each covered shifts that sometimes allowed less than 11 hours’ daily rest and two public holidays the company had not shown it paid.
The unfair-dismissal, minimum-wage, terms-of-employment and penalisation complaints were found not well founded. The officer said the WRC lacked jurisdiction to consider the minimum-wage claim because Flood had not sought a section 23 statement.