The Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) ordered Panscape Partition Systems Ltd to pay Michael Forde €1,630.20, subject to statutory deductions, after finding that a reduction in his travel-time payment was an unlawful wage deduction. The decision was dated 20 May 2024.
Forde said he was contractually entitled to two hours’ pay per day for travel time, but the company reduced the payment to one hour. He argued it was taxable contractual pay, not reimbursement of travel expenses. The company said the two-hour payment had depended on an uplift from main contractor Sisk, which had stopped.
The adjudicator found no express agreement allowing the payment to be changed or ended, and concluded that it was not a travel expense. The WRC found Forde’s complaint well founded and directed the company to pay him for the relevant deduction period. The decision records that the same dispute had previously resulted in a WRC finding for Forde and a Labour Court determination upholding that decision. The current award in this case was €1,630.20.