Almost €2m in unpaid wages recovered after WRC inspections

The WRC said a key focus of its inspectorate lay with the fishing, road transport, construction and agriculture industries, as well as ensuring the national minimum wage was paid across the board. Picture: Eamonn Farrell/RollingNews.ie

Almost €2m was recovered in unpaid wages last year, on foot of inspections from the Workplace Relations Commission.

The organisation’s annual report for 2023 marks its first “full year of normal services” since before the covid pandemic and recorded an increase of 50% on adjudication decisions issued when compared to 2022.

“Significant trends have begun to emerge in some key areas of our activity which will inform our workplans in the coming years and we look forward to continued positive engagements with all of our service users and stakeholders,” WRC director general Audrey Cahill said.

Of the €1.95m recovered in unpaid wages by the WRC in 2023, over one quarter of this (€565,409) related to employment in food service activities. 

A further €385,200 was recovered in unpaid wages from the wholesale and retail trade industries, while more than €100,000 was recovered in both the hotel industry and in construction from unpaid wages.

The WRC said a key focus of its inspectorate lay with the fishing, road transport, construction and agriculture industries, as well as ensuring the national minimum wage was paid across the board.

Over the course of 2023, the WRC received 6,172 complaints. More than half related to pay, while a sizeable portion related to hours of work, unfair dismissal and discrimination.

Almost 3,000 decisions were issued by the WRC last year on such complaints.

Under complaints made under the Equal Status Acts, there was a marked increase in claims of discrimination based on family status (up 28%), gender (up 33%) and sexual orientation (up 25%).

Under the separate Employment Equality Acts, claims citing discrimination on sexual orientation rose 135%, while claims of discrimination over race rose 64%.