The Complainant was employed as a Manufacturing Engineer in a large Medical Devices company. He worked a 39-hour week in return for a monthly payment of €4,180.78 per month. The Complainant had commenced work in February 2002 and resigned his position in March 2018 while on long term sick leave. In his evidence, the Complainant explained that he usually received a bonus payment which ranged between 8% and 12.5% annually. The annual calculation of the bonus was unfavourably reduced in the 2016 calculation and an illegal deduction was made to the Complainant’s award of €4,300 in March 2017.

The Complainant had raised an extensive grievance dated the 4th of May 2017 which addressed this omission, and this had not been dealt with adequately. The Complainant submitted that he had been denied payment of an annual bonus in the amount of approximately €5,200 because he had been suffering from work-related stress. Counsel for the Complainant submitted that the Complainant presented a psychological impairment which constituted a Disability.

The Respondent outlined that a worldwide incentivised bonus scheme operated globally within the company. The Respondent contended that the claim under the Payment of Wages Act was not a mechanism to appeal the performance rating which was properly addressed under the Industrial Relations Act or the grievance procedure.

The Respondent also disputed the claim that work-related stress amounted to a disability within the meaning of the Employment Equality Acts as provided for in Section 2(1)(e), whose definition of disability refers to conditions or impairments of a relatively serious nature. For the ground of disability to be relied on, the Respondent argued that some form of physical or mental impairment ought to be in existence. The Respondent’s view on this point was strengthened by the case law which emphasised that meaningful medical reports from relevant specialists/GP were necessary to satisfy the probative burden of proof outlined in Section 85(A) of the Act.

Based on the above objective analysis, the Adjudication Officer found that the Respondent erred in the calculation of the Complainant’s yearend bonus in seeking to rely in a May Performance Ratings at year end.  The Adjudication Officer also maintained that there had been an inconsistency in the application of the bonus payments between the years 2013-2016 and subsequently, the Complainant was wrongly deducted 75% of his bonus. In respect of the contravention of Section 6 of the Payment of Wages Act, the Adjudication Officer found the complaint to be well founded and ordered the Employer to pay to the employee the net amount of 75% of the bonus earned by the employee during 2016. This sum amounted to €5,098.47 less statutory deductions.

In relation to the disability claim at the time of the deduction of the bonus, the Adjudication Officer could not establish that the Complainant had a disability in accordance with Section 2(1)(e) of the Act or Section 79 of the Employment Equality Acts and therefore found that the complainant could not rely on the ground of disability to advance his complaint. The Adjudication Officer had no further jurisdiction in the case and dismissed the claim.
https://www.workplacerelations.ie/en/Cases/2019/February/ADJ-00010769.html