WRC rejects cleaner’s wage deduction complaint over €1,982.69 overpayment

The Workplace Relations Commission found a complaint by cleaner Piotr Kritschgau against Derry Court Cleaning Specialists not well founded over weekly deductions to recover an overpayment of €1,982.69. The decision was dated 25 July 2023. The respondent had paid him €17.33 an hour instead of €11.55 after his employment transferred to the company in November 2022. It began deducting €38.12 a week over 12 months in February 2023. Kritschgau said he had not agreed to the deductions and that he earned less at the new site because he worked less overtime. The company argued that the law allowed deductions to recover an overpayment and that €11.90 an hour was the correct rate from April 2023. The adjudication officer found that recovering the overpayment in weekly instalments was not unreasonable. The Payment of Wages Act permits deductions for overpaid wages if they are fair and reasonable.