Payment of Wages
Payment of Wages Act 1991
REVISED
Updated to 1 October 2015
Interpretation.
1.—(1) In this Act—
“cash” means cash that is legal tender;
“contract of employment” means—
(a) a contract of service or of apprenticeship, and
(b) any other contract whereby an individual agrees with another person to do
or perform personally any work or service for a third person (whether or not
the third person is a party to the contract) whose status by virtue of the
contract is not that of a client or customer of any profession or business
undertaking carried on by the individual, and the person who is liable to pay
the wages of the individual in respect of the work or service shall be deemed
for the purposes of this Act to be his employer,
whether the contract is express or implied and if express, whether it is oral or in
writing;
“employee” means a person who has entered into or works under (or, where the
employment has ceased, entered into or worked under) a contract of employment
and references, in relation to an employer, to an employee shall be construed as
references to an employee employed by that employer; and for the purpose of this
definition, a person holding office under, or in the service of, the State (including a
member of the Garda Síochána or the Defence Forces) or otherwise as a civil servant,
within the meaning of the Civil Service Regulation Act, 1956, shall be deemed to be
an employee employed by the State or the Government, as the case may be, and an
officer or servant of a local authority for the purposes of the F1[Local Government
Act 2001 (as amended by the Local Government Reform Act 2014)], a harbour
authority, a health board or F2[a member of staff of an education and training board]
shall be deemed to be an employee employed by the authority F2[or board], as the
case may be;
“employer”, in relation to an employee, means the person with whom the employee
has entered into or for whom the employee works under (or, where the employment
has ceased, entered into or worked under) a contract of employment;
“the Minister” means the Minister for Labour;
“strike” and “industrial action” have the meanings assigned to them by the Industrial
Relations Act, 1990;
“the Tribunal” means the Employment Appeals Tribunal;
“wages”, in relation to an employee, means any sums payable to the employee by
the employer in connection with his employment, including—
(a) any fee, bonus or commission, or any holiday, sick or maternity pay, or any
other emolument, referable to his employment, whether payable under his
contract of employment or otherwise, and
(b) any sum payable to the employee upon the termination by the employer of
his contract of employment without his having given to the employee the
appropriate prior notice of the termination, being a sum paid in lieu of the
giving of such notice:
Provided however that the following payments shall not be regarded as wages for
the purposes of this definition:
(i) any payment in respect of expenses incurred by the employee in carrying out
his employment,
(ii) any payment by way of a pension, allowance or gratuity in connection with the
death, or the retirement or resignation from his employment, of the
employee or as compensation for loss of office,
(iii) any payment referable to the employee’s redundancy,
(iv) any payment to the employee otherwise than in his capacity as an employee,
(v) any payment in kind or benefit in kind.
(2) Except in section 5 (5) (f), a reference in this Act to an employer receiving a
payment from an employee is a reference to his receiving such a payment in his
capacity as the employee’s employer.
(3) In this Act, a reference to a section is a reference to a section of this Act, unless
it is indicated that reference to some other enactment is intended.
(4) In this Act, a reference to a subsection, paragraph or subparagraph is a reference
to a subsection, paragraph or subparagraphof the provision in which the reference
occurs, unless it is indicated that reference to some other provision is intended.
Modes of payment of wages.
2.—(1) Wages may be paid by and only by one or more of the following modes:
(a) a cheque, draft or other bill of exchange within the meaning of the Bills of
Exchange Act, 1882,
(b) a document issued by a person who maintains an account with the Central
Bank of Ireland or a holder of a licence under section 9 of the Central Bank
Act, 1971, which, though not such a bill of exchange as aforesaid, is intended
to enable a person to obtain payment from that bank or that holder of the
amount specified in the document,
(c) a draft payable on demand drawn by a holder of such a licence as aforesaid
upon himself, whether payable at the head office or some other office of the
bank to which the licence relates,
(d) a postal, money or paying order, or a warrant, or any other like document,
issued by or drawn on An Post or a document issued by an officer of a
Minister of the Government that is intended to enable a person to obtain
payment from that Minister of the Government of the sum specified in the
document,
(e) a document issued by a person who maintains an account with a trustee savings
bank within the meaning of the Trustee Savings Banks Act, 1989, that is
intended to enable a person to obtain payment from the bank of the sum
specified in the document,
(f) a credit transfer or another mode of payment whereby an amount is credited
to an account specified by the employee concerned,
(g) cash,
(h) any other mode of payment standing specified for the time being by regulations
made by the Minister after consultation with the Minister for Finance.
(2) Where wages fall to be paid to an employee by a mode other than cash at a time
when, owing to a strike or other industrial action affecting a financial institution, cash
is not readily available to the employee, the employer concerned shall, if the
employee consents, pay the wages by another mode (other than cash) specified in
subsection (1) and, if the employee does not so consent, pay them in cash.
(3) An employer who pays wages to an employee otherwise than by a mode specified
in subsection (1) or contravenes subsection (2) shall be guilty of an offence and shall
be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £1,000.
Pre-Act Issues
Repeal of Truck Acts, 1831 to 1896, and related enactments.
3.—(1) The enactments specified in column (2) of the Schedule to this Act are
hereby repealed to the extent specified in column (3) of that Schedule.
(2) Notwithstanding any provision of this Act—
(a) where, immediately before the commencement of this Act, an employee’s
wages were being paid to him in cash, the employer shall, while the
employee is in the employment concerned, continue to pay those wages to
him in cash unless any other mode of payment specified in section 2 is agreed
upon by the employer or an organisation representative of employers (of
which the employer is a member) and the employee or an organisation
representative of employees (of which the employee is a member), and
(b) where, immediately before such commencement, an employee’s wages were
being paid to him, pursuant to section 3 of the Payment of Wages Act, 1979,
by an instrument or mode of payment to which that section applied, then,
if after such commencement, the agreement or other arrangement authorising
payment of the wages by the instrument or mode aforesaid is terminated in
a manner specified in that section, the employer shall pay those wages to
him in cash unless any other mode of payment specified in section 2 is agreed
upon as aforesaid.
(3) An employer who contravenes subsection (2) shall be guilty of an offence and
shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £1,000.
Statements of wages and deductions from wages.
4.—(1) An employer shall give or cause to be given to an employee a statement in
writing specifying clearly the gross amount of the wages payable to the employee
and the nature and amount of any deduction therefrom and the employer shall take
such reasonable steps as are necessary to ensure that both the matter to which the
statement relates and the statement are treated confidentially by the employer and
his agents and by any other employees.
(2) A statement under this section shall be given to the employee concerned—
(a) if the relevant payment is made by a mode specified in section 2 (1) (f), as soon
as may be thereafter,
(b) if the payment is made by a mode of payment specified in regulations under
section 2 (1) (h), at such time as may be specified in the regulations,
(c) if the payment is made by any other mode of payment, at the time of the
payment.
(3) Where a statement under this section contains an error or omission, the statement
shall be regarded as complying with the provisions of this section if it is shown
that the error or omission was made by way of a clerical mistake or was otherwise
made accidentally and in good faith.
(4) An employer who contravenes subsection (1) or (2) shall be guilty of an offence
and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £1,000.
Regulation of certain deductions made and payments received by employers.
5.—(1) An employer shall not make a deduction from the wages of an employee (or
receive any payment from an employee) unless—
(a) the deduction (or payment) is required or authorised to be made by virtue of
any statute or any instrument made under statute,
(b) the deduction (or payment) is required or authorised to be made by virtue of
a term of the employee’s contract of employment included in the contract
before, and in force at the time of, the deduction or payment, or
(c) in the case of a deduction, the employee has given his prior consent in writing
to it.
(2) An employer shall not make a deduction from the wages of an employee in
respect of—
(a) any act or omission of the employee, or
(b) any goods or services supplied to or provided for the employee by the
employer the supply or provision of which is necessary to the employment,
unless—
(i) the deduction is required or authorised to be made by virtue of a term
(whether express or implied and, if express, whether oral or in writing)
of the contract of employment made between the employer and the
employee, and
(ii) the deduction is of an amount that is fair and reasonable having regard to
all the circumstances (including the amount of the wages of the employee),
and
(iii) before the time of the act or omission or the provision of the goods or
services, the employee has been furnished with—
(I) in case the term referred to in subparagraph (i) is in writing, a copy
thereof,
(II) in any other case, notice in writing of the existence and effect of the
term, and
(iv) in case the deduction is in respect of an act or omission of the employee,
the employee has been furnished, at least one week before the making
of the deduction, with particulars in writing of the act or omission and
the amount of the deduction, and
(v) in case the deduction is in respect of compensation for loss or damage
sustained by the employer as a result of an act or omission of the
employee, the deduction is of an amount not exceeding the amount of
the loss or the cost of the damage, and
(vi) in case the deduction is in respect of goods or services supplied or
provided as aforesaid, the deduction is of an amount not exceeding the
cost to the employer of the goods or services, and
(vii) the deduction or, if the total amount payable to the employer by the
employee in respect of the act or omission or the goods or services is to
be so paid by means of more than one deduction from the wages of the
employee, the first such deduction is made not later than 6 months after
the act or omission becomes known to the employer or, as the case may
be, after the provision of the goods or services.
(3) (a) An employer shall not receive a payment from an employee in respect of a
matter referred to in subsection (2) unless, if the payment were a deduction,
it would comply with that subsection.
(b) Where an employer receives a payment in accordance with paragraph (a)
he shall forthwith give a receipt for the payment to the employee.
(4) A term of a contract of employment or other agreement whereby goods or
services are supplied to or provided for an employee by an employer in consideration
of the making of a deduction by the employer from the wages of the employee or the
making of a payment to the employer by the employee shall not be enforceable by
the employer unless the supply or provision and the deduction or payment complies
with subsection (2).
(5) Nothing in this section applies to—
(a) a deduction made by an employer from the wages of an employee, or any
payment received from an employee by an employer, where—
(i) the purpose of the deduction or payment is the reimbursement of the
employer in respect of—
(I) any overpayment of wages, or
(II) any overpayment in respect of expenses incurred by the employee in
carrying out his employment,
made (for any reason) by the employer to the employee, and
(ii) the amount of the deduction or payment does not exceed the amount of
the overpayment,
or
(b) a deduction made by an employer from the wages of an employee, or any
payment received from an employee by an employer, in consequence of any
disciplinary proceedings if those proceedings were held by virtue of a statutory
provision, or
(c) a deduction made by an employer from the wages of an employee in pursuance
of a requirement imposed on the employer by virtue of any statutory provision
to deduct and pay to a public authority, being a Minister of the Government,
the Revenue Commissioners or a local authority for the purposes of the
F3[Local Government Act 2001 (as amended by the Local Government Reform
Act 2014)], amounts determined by that authority as being due to it from
the employee, if the deduction is made in accordance with the relevant
determination of that authority, or
(d) a deduction made by an employer from the wages of an employee in pursuance
of any arrangements—
(i) which are in accordance with a term of a contract made between the
employer and the employee to whose inclusion in the contract the
employee has given his prior consent in writing, or
(ii) to which the employee has otherwise given his prior consent in writing,
and under which the employer deducts and pays to a third person amounts,
being amounts in relation to which he has received a notice in writing from
that person stating that they are amounts due to him from the employee, if
the deduction is made in accordance with the notice and the amount thereof
is paid to the third person not later than the date on which it is required by
the notice to be so paid, or
(e) a deduction made by an employer from the wages of an employee, or any
payment received from an employee by his employer, where the employee
has taken part in a strike or other industrial action and the deduction is made
or the payment has been required by the employer on account of the
employee’s having taken part in that strike or other industrial action, or
(f) a deduction made by an employer from the wages of an employee with his
prior consent in writing, or any payment received from an employee by an
employer, where the purpose of the deduction or payment is the satisfaction
(whether wholly or in part) of an order of a court or tribunal requiring the
payment of any amount by the employee to the employer, or
(g) a deduction made by an employer from the wages of an employee where the
purpose of the deduction is the satisfaction (whether wholly or in part) of
an order of a court or tribunal requiring the payment of any amount by the
employer to the court or tribunal or a third party out of the wages of the
employee.
(6) Where—
(a) the total amount of any wages that are paid on any occasion by an employer
to an employee is less than the total amount of wages that is properly payable
by him to the employee on that occasion (after making any deductions
therefrom that fall to be made and are in accordance with this Act), or
(b) none of the wages that are properly payable to an employee by an employer
on any occasion (after making any such deductions as aforesaid) are paid to
the employee,
then, except in so far as the deficiency or non-payment is attributable to an error of
computation, the amount of the deficiency or non-payment shall be treated as a
deduction made by the employer from the wages of the employee on the occasion.
Complaint to adjudication officer and Appeal
6.F4[(1) A decision of an adjudication officer under section 41 of the Workplace
Relations Act 2015, in relation to a complaint of a contravention of section 5 as
respects a deduction made by an employer from the wages of an employee or the
receipt from an employee by an employer of a payment, that the complaint is, in
whole or in part, well founded as respects the deduction or payment shall include a
direction to the employer to pay to the employee compensation of such amount (if
any) as he considers reasonable in the circumstances not exceeding—
(a) the net amount of the wages (after the making of any lawful deduction
therefrom) that—
(i) in case the complaint related to a deduction, would have been paid to the
employee in respect of the week immediately preceding the date of the
deduction if the deduction had not been made, or
(ii) in case the complaint related to a payment, were paid to the employee
in respect of the week immediately preceding the date of payment,
or
(b) if the amount of the deduction or payment is greater than the amount referred
to in paragraph (a), twice the former amount.
(2) (a) An adjudication officer shall not give a decision referred to in subsection (1)
in relation to a deduction or payment referred to in that subsection at any
time after the commencement of the hearing of proceedings in a court
brought by the employee concerned in respect of the deduction or payment.
(b) An employee shall not be entitled to recover any amount in proceedings in a
court in respect of such a deduction or payment as aforesaid at any time
after an adjudication officer has given a decision referred to in subsection
(1) in relation to the deduction or payment.]
F5[Decision of Labour Court on appeal from decision referred to in section 6]
7.—F5[A decision of the Labour Court under section 44 of the Workplace Relations
Act 2015, on appeal from a decision of an adjudication officer referred to in section
6, shall affirm, vary or set aside the decision of the adjudication officer.]
Enforcement of decisions of rights commissioner and determinations of Tribunal.
Provisions in relation to offences.
10.—(1) Proceedings for an offence under this Act may be brought and prosecuted
by the Minister.
(2) Notwithstanding section 10 (4) of the Petty Sessions (Ireland) Act, 1851,
proceedings for an offence under this Act may be instituted within 12 months from
the date of the offence.
(3) Where an offence under this Act is committed by a body corporate and is proved
to have been so committed with the consent or connivance of or to be attributable
to any neglect on the part of any person, being a director, manager, secretary or other
officer of the body corporate, or a person who was purporting to act in anysuch
capacity, that person, as well as the body corporate, shall be guilty of an offence and
shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished as if he were guilty of the firstmentioned
offence.
Voidance of certain provisions in agreements.
11.—A provision in an agreement (whether a contract of employment or not and
whether made before or after the commencement of this Act) shall be void in so far
as it purports to preclude or limit the application of, or is inconsistent with, any
provision of this Act.