Adjudication Officer: David James Murphy
Decision published: 28 March 2025
Total award: €63,767.84
Background
- The complainant worked as a licensed security guard for BGSS at Centra, Spar, and SuperValu outlets around Dublin.
- BGSS held contracts with multiple major retail brands but failed to pay staff properly for extended periods.
- Mr Muradov was represented by the Independent Workers’ Union (IWU).
Complaints lodged
- Non-payment of wages – Payment of Wages Act 1991
- Failure to provide written terms – Terms of Employment (Information) Act 1994
- Breach of Employment Regulation Order (ERO) for Security Industry 2023
- Breach of Industrial Relations Act 1946 (non-compliance with the JLC-approved ERO)
Findings
- BGSS paid the worker only €500 across three months while he worked long hours, including nights and weekends.
- New ERO rate: €14.50/hour (since July 2024) was ignored; no premium, holiday, or public-holiday pay provided.
- The adjudicator described a “persistent practice of non-payment” corroborated by eight prior WRC rulings against the same firm since September 2024.
- He noted BGSS’s behaviour “undermines the Joint Labour Committee regime” and gives the firm “an obvious unfair advantage” over law-abiding competitors.
Award breakdown
| Act breached | Amount awarded |
| Payment of Wages Act 1991 | € 3,712.84 |
| Terms of Employment (Information) Act 1994 | € 1,200 |
| Industrial Relations Act 1946 / ERO breach | € 58,855 |
| Total | € 63,767.84 |
This brought BGSS’s cumulative WRC liability to ≈ €90,000 since late 2024, across nine employee claims.
Sector significance
- First security-sector case in which the WRC explicitly tied pay breaches to undermining the ERO system.
- Confirms WRC’s strict enforcement of sectoral minimum terms under the Private Security JLC/ERO.
- Highlights the competitive distortion created when licensed providers ignore wage floors while maintaining major retail contracts.
- Signals closer cooperation between WRC and the PSA on enforcement; repeat offenders risk not only WRC awards but also PSA licence review or revocation.
This article is based on public decisions of the Workplace Relations Commission and reported case summaries from Irish media sources. It is intended as a commentary on HR compliance issues relevant to employers and HR professionals in Ireland.