PAYMENT OF WAGES ACT, 1979

AN ACT TO PROVIDE FOR THE PAYMENT OF CERTAIN WAGES OTHERWISE THAN IN CASH AND FOR OTHER MATTERS RELATED TO THE PAYMENT OF SALARIES OR WAGES. [26th December, 1979]

BE IT ENACTED BY THE OIREACHTAS AS FOLLOWS:

1 Interpretation.

1.—(1) In this Act—

“account” includes both a current account and a deposit account (whether described by that name or as a deposit or in any other way);

“the Act of 1831” means the Truck Act, 1831;

“the Act of 1874” means the Hosiery Manufacture (Wages) Act, 1874;

“the Act of 1887” means the Truck Amendment Act, 1887;

“the Minister” means the Minister for Labour;

“trade union” has the same meaning as in the Trade Union Acts, 1871 to 1975;

“wages”, except in section 5 and subject to subsection (2) of this section, means, except where the context otherwise requires, any amount which constitutes wages within the meaning and for the purposes of the Act of 1831 or the Act of 1874.

• (2) Section 10 of the Act of 1887 (which applies the provisions of the Act of 1831 and of the first-mentioned Act to certain out-workers not directly employed) shall have like effect for the purposes of this Act as it has for the purposes of those Acts, and references in this Act to employee, to employers and to wages shall be construed accordingly.

• (3) References in this Act to any enactment shall be construed as references to that enactment as amended or extended by or under any other enactment.

2 Application.

2.—This Act, other than sections 5 and 8 (4), applies only to employees as regards the payment of whose wages the provisions of the Act of 1831, or the provisions of that Act as extended by section 10 of the Act of 1887, or the provisions of the Act of 1874, apply.

3 Payment of wages otherwise than in cash.

3.—(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in any other enactment, an instrument or mode of payment to which this section applies may be used by an employer to make a payment of wages to an employee to whom this section applies if either—

• (a) (i) the employer, and—

• (I) the employee, or

• (II) some other person authorised in writing by the employee to sign on his behalf,

sign a document that specifies that mode as the mode of payment of wages to be used, and

• (ii) the document indicates that the specified mode of payment will cease to be used—

• (I) whenever both the employer and employee so determine, or

• (II) at such time as may be specified in a notice in writing given by either of them to the other of them, or, in case the document is signed by a person authorised under this paragraph, given to or by the employer by or to that person or some other person nominated in writing for the purposes of this clause by the employee concerned, but not being less than four weeks after the day on which the notice is received,

or

• (b) (i) there is between the employer or an employers' organisation or other body of persons representative of employers (of which the employer is a member) and any trade union or any other body of persons which is recognised for the purpose of collective bargaining negotiations by the employer (of which in either case the employee is a member), an agreement in writing (whether made before or after the passing of this Act) providing that that mode is to be used by the employer, or, in case the agreement is made on behalf of employers who are members of such an organisation or other body so representative, by each such employer, to pay wages to his employees who are members of either the trade union or the other body so recognised, as the case may be, and

• (ii) unless there is therein provision for its periodic review, the agreement provides for its termination by either party thereto giving to the other party thereto notice in writing, and

• (iii) the period of such notice is specified in the agreement and is a period of not less than four weeks,

and the mode of payment specified in a document under this subsection or in such an agreement may continue to be used until its employment is terminated either in accordance with subparagraph (ii) of paragraph (a) of this subsection or under and in accordance with the agreement, as may be appropriate.

• (2) Where immediately before the passing of this Act an instrument or mode of payment to which this section applies was being used to pay wages, then for the purposes of enabling the wages to continue to be so paid, a document complying with the requirements of subsection (1) of this section shall if necessary be deemed to have been signed by the employer and the employee concerned in relation to that mode of payment, and where such a document is deemed under this subsection to have been signed, the mode of payment used immediately before the passing of this Act may continue to be used in the particular case until its employment is terminated in a manner specified in clause (I) or (II) of subsection (1) (a) (ii) of this section.

• (3) This section applies to the following instruments and modes of payment, namely—

• (a) a cheque, draft or other bill of exchange within the meaning of the Bills of Exchange Act, 1882;

• (b) any document issued by a person who maintains an account with the Central Bank of Ireland or a holder of a licence which, though not such a bill of exchange, is intended to enable a person to obtain payment from that bank or that holder of the sum mentioned in the document;

• (c) any draft payable on demand drawn by a holder of a licence upon himself, whether payable at the head office or some other office of his bank;

• (d) any postal or money order issued by the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs or any document issued by a public officer which is intended to enable a person to obtain payment from a Minister of the Government of the sum mentioned in the document;

• (e) any document issued by a person who maintains an account with a trustee savings bank which is intended to enable a person to obtain payment from the bank of the sum mentioned in the document;

• (f) a credit transfer;

• (g) such other instrument or mode of payment as may be specified for the time being in regulations made by the Minister after consultation with the Minister for Finance.

• (4) Every regulation made under this section shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after it is made and, if a resolution annulling the regulation is passed by either such House within the next twenty-one days on which that House has sat after the regulation is laid before it, the regulation shall be annulled accordingly but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder.

• (5) In this section—

“collective bargaining negotiations” means negotiations between any employer, employers' organisation or other body of persons representative of employers on the one hand and any organisation or other body of persons representative of employees on the other hand, being negotiations which are concerned with the remuneration or other terms or conditions of employment, or the working conditions, of employees;

“licence” means a licence granted by the Central Bank of Ireland under section 9 of the Central Bank Act, 1971;

“trustee savings bank” means a trustee savings bank certified under the Trustee Savings Banks Acts, 1863 to 1979.

4 Further provisions regarding payment of wages otherwise than in cash.

4.—(1) Subject to subsection (2) of this section, where an employee to whom this section applies is required to work at a place other than his usual place of employment or is absent from work on leave or with the consent of his employer or by reason of illness, an instrument or mode of payment to which section 3 of this Act applies may be used for the payment of the wages of the employee notwithstanding the fact that a document has not been signed in compliance with section 3 (1) of this Act, or the fact that there is not in force for the time being an agreement referred to in the said section 3 (1) and relevant to the particular case, as may be appropriate.

• (2)
• (a) An employee to whom this section applies may by giving notice in writing to his employer require the employer, for so long as the employee is either—

• (i) required to work at a place other than his usual place of employment, or

• (ii) absent from work on leave or with the consent of his employer or by reason of illness,

to pay his wages, or cause them to be paid, to him in cash, and in case a notice under this subsection is for the time being in force, subsection (1) of this section shall not apply in relation to the employee.

• (b) A notice under paragraph (a) of this subsection shall remain in force until—

• (i) it is withdrawn by a notice in writing given to the employer concerned by the employee concerned, or

• (ii) the employee concerned ceases to be employed by the employer concerned.

5 Employees to be given certain statements as regards salary or wages.

5.—(1) Where an employer makes a deduction from the amount of any payment of salary or wages he makes to an employee, he shall give, or cause to be given, to the employee a statement in writing indicating the gross amount of the salary or wages payable and the nature and amount of the deduction, and in case such a statement is so given, the employer concerned shall take such reasonable steps as are necessary to ensure that both the matter to which the statement relates, and the statement before it is given to the employee, are treated confidentially.

• (2) A statement under this section shall be given to the employee concerned—

• (a) if the relevant payment is made by credit transfer or by any other mode of payment whereby an amount is credited to an account specified by the employee, as soon as may be,

• (b) if such payment is made by any other mode of payment, at the time of the payment.

• (3) The foregoing provisions of this section are in addition to and not in substitution for sections 2 (2) (b), 3 (2) (b) and 6 (3) of the Truck Act, 1896.

• (4) Where a statement is given to an employee which contains an error in, or an omission from, the particulars required by this section, the statement shall be regarded as complying with the requirements 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.

• (5) This section shall come into force on such day as the Minister shall fix by order.

6 Certain deductions prohibited.

6.—It shall not be lawful for an employer to make from any wages paid to an employee to whom this section applies any deduction by reason only of their being paid otherwise than in cash.

7 Certain terms or conditions null and void.

7.—Any term or condition of an agreement whereby a person is required—

• (a) for the purposes of section 3 of this Act to sign, or to authorise another to sign on his behalf, a document referred to in the said section 3,

• (b) not to terminate the use of an instrument or a mode of payment of wages which both is an instrument or a mode of payment specified in that section and is being used to make payments of wages to an employee to whom that section applies,

shall be null and void.

8 Savers and defence.

8.—(1) Where an instrument or mode of payment to which section 3 of this Act applies is used as the mode of paying wages to an employee to whom this section applies, the following provisions shall have effect:

• (a) none of the following enactments shall apply to wages whose payment is effected by that mode, namely, the Truck Act, 1743, section 20 of the County Works (Ireland) Act, 1846, or section 1 of the Act of 1874,

• (b) no action or other legal proceedings shall be instituted under section 4 of the Act of 1831 in respect of wages whose payment is effected by that mode or in respect of a lawful deduction taken into account in calculating that payment,

• (c) no proceedings for a penalty in respect of a payment of wages effected by that mode shall be instituted under either section 9 of the Act of 1831 or section 3 of the Act of 1874.

• (2) For the purposes of section 9 of the Act of 1831 (whereby it is an offence to enter into any contract or make any payment which by that Act is declared illegal) the following provisions shall have effect:

• (a) neither—

• (i) a payment made in pursuance of this Act by means of an instrument or mode of payment to which this Act applies, nor

• (ii) the signing of a document in pursuance of section 3 of this Act,

shall be regarded as being a contract or a payment so declared illegal,

and

• (b) a contract to which section 1 of the Act of 1831 applies shall not be regarded as being a contract so declared illegal by reason only of the fact that it incorporates or otherwise includes all or any of the terms contained in an agreement referred to in section 3 (1) of this Act.

• (3) For so long as—

• (a) an arrangement described in subsection (1) of section 3 of this Act is in force, or, having regard to subsection (2) of that section, exists by implication, or

• (b) a notice under section 4 of this Act is in force,

section 1 of the Act of 1874 shall not have effect as regards any payment of wages, whether made pursuant to the arrangement or otherwise, by the employer concerned to the employee concerned.

• (4) Nothing in any statute which is referred to in this Act shall be construed as prohibiting, or as ever having prohibited, the making by an employer of a deduction from any wages where the deduction is or was made with the consent of the person to whom the wages are or were payable.

• (5) In any proceedings under section 4 or 9 of the Act of 1831 or under section 3 of the Act of 1874 it shall be a good defence for the defendant to prove that he reasonably believed that the mode used to effect the payment of wages to which the proceedings relate was an instrument or mode of payment to which section 3 of this Act applies.

9 Short title.

9.—This Act may be cited as the Payment of Wages Act, 1979.