The High Court issued a judgement on Friday 20th January 2017, the details of which signify a huge victory for workers. This judgement reverses a previous held incorrect belief, amongst many, that a reduction in a worker’s wage is not a deduction from their wage and therefore the worker involved has no case under the Payment of Wages Act 1991. This incorrect belief arose out of an obiter comment made in a case commonly referred to as the “McKenzie” case. The Petkus case therefore involved a point of law appeal by SIPTU members challenging the “fallout” from the McKenzie case. Petkus now reverses the McKenzie High Court decision, once and for all.  The Court in Petkus emphatically says a reduction in wages is the same as a deduction thus reinvigorating the power of the Payment of Wages Act for workers fighting unlawful deductions in their wages by employers.

For full High Court case click here