Employer found liable for an unlawful deduction of €20.25 for 1.5 unpaid hours, while the remaining claims concerning annual leave and public holiday entitlements were dismissed.

The Complainant stated that she had worked as a Customer Advisor from February to December 2025 and had earned €13.50 per hour. She claimed that she had worked an additional 1.5 hours on 6 November 2025 after her manager amended the electronic roster to show a later finishing time but had not been paid for those hours. She also questioned whether three hours of annual leave, deducted after a missed clocking entry on 30 October, had been restored and paid. She maintained that she could not verify whether her public holiday entitlements had been correctly included within her annual leave allowance or final payment. Although the Respondent had provided revised calculations and payslips, she remained uncertain that the amounts were accurate. She therefore alleged under the Payment of Wages Act 1991 that wages, holiday pay and accrued leave had been unlawfully withheld from her upon the termination of her employment.

The Respondent maintained that all wages and holiday entitlements had been correctly calculated and paid. It stated that the electronic clocking system, rather than the roster, constituted the official record of hours worked and that the Complainant’s manager had verified six hours for 6 November 2025. It explained that full-time employees received thirty days’ annual leave, comprising twenty statutory days and ten days in lieu of public holidays. The Complainant had received her normal pay for public holidays worked and had accrued a pro-rated leave entitlement of 155.34 hours. The three hours initially deducted following the missed clocking entry on 30 October had been restored, and payment for the hours worked had been included in the revised November payment. On termination, the Respondent had paid €801.09 for 59.34 hours of accrued but untaken leave. It therefore denied that any unlawful deduction or outstanding holiday payment had arisen in those circumstances.

The Adjudicating Officer found that the complaint had succeeded only in respect of the additional 1.5 hours worked on 6 November 2025. Although the clocking system was ordinarily the appropriate record, the manager had amended the roster to show the later finishing time and had not been called to contradict the Complainant’s account. On the balance of probabilities, 7.5 hours had been worked, but only six hours had been paid. The resulting shortfall of €20.25 had constituted an unlawful deduction. The remaining claims had failed. The evidence showed that the three hours deducted following the missed clocking entry on 30 October had been restored and paid. The Respondent’s calculations also established that the Complainant had accrued 155.34 hours of leave, taken 96 hours and received payment for the remaining leave, including public holiday entitlements. The complaint had therefore been well founded in part only. No further compensation had therefore been awarded.

Employers should:

• Maintain reliable timekeeping systems and require employees to clock in and out consistently. Where a manager changes a roster or confirms additional hours, the employer reconciles that information with clocking records before payroll is processed. Any discrepancy is investigated promptly, and the manager who authorised the change provides a written explanation. 
  
  
• Ensure contracts and policies explain clearly how annual leave and public holiday benefits are calculated. Where public holiday entitlements are incorporated into an overall leave allowance, employees receive a transparent breakdown showing statutory leave, additional leave, leave taken and the balance remaining. Final payslips should identify all holiday payments and the underlying calculations. 
  
  
• Where appropriate, ensure revised payslips are issued without delay and retained with supporting records. Employers should not rely solely on one data source where other contemporaneous records indicate additional work
  

The full case can be found here.