A Pakistani man worked up to 115 hours a week in shops and restaurants but had to beg his employer for occasional payments because he was not receiving a regular wage, the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) has heard.
The delivery driver, who arrived in Ireland in August 2021, said he felt trapped in the situation for a period of more than two years because he could not change employer under the terms of his work permit.
He was awarded more than €71,000 by the WRC after adjudication officer Úna Glazier-Farmer accepted that “both intimidation and financial threats were made against his family if he did not work for the respondent”.
The man gave evidence at a WRC hearing that despite being listed on formal documentation as a chef de partie, he usually worked as a retail assistant at the Solo Mobile phone shop in Limerick city during the day and at the Mixed Spice 3 food outlet, owned by the same employer, in the evenings.
He said he at times worked from 8am to 6pm in the shop for six days a week and then until 2am or 3am every night at the restaurant.
He lived in a flat above the shop, owned by the respondent, Broz Asset Private Ltd, whose sole director at the time was listed as Muhammad Adnan Yousaf. He said he was sometimes required to work at two other businesses, Tech More Gadgets in Templemore, and Five Star Kebab and Pizza in Castleconnell.
The man said he would “beg for money” from his employer and received amounts of between €10 and €50 at irregular intervals. The respondent, who did not attend the hearing, also sent an average of €410 a month to the man’s family in Pakistan.
The man said that when he travelled home to see his father, who was ill at the time, and to mark his own engagement, he was given €2,900 by the employer. Otherwise, he said, he was provided with accommodation, one meal a day, car insurance and the occasional small cash payment.
Represented by the Migrant Rights Centre of Ireland (MRCI), the man made claims under the National Minimum Wage Act 2000 for underpayment as well as for holiday pay and other entitlements.
In her decision, Ms Glazier-Farmer said the man had “provided credible evidence of his excessive working hours”. She awarded him €56,504.42 in wages under the National Minimum Wages Act money and another €14,934.94 under various other headings for a total of €71,439.36.
Welcoming the decision, the MRCI said the number of people coming to it for help with regard to labour exploitation has doubled. It said it looked forward to the Minister for Enterprise advancing a programme for government commitment to examine ways for permit holders to more easily move jobs.
“The Minister also needs to introduce penalties against employers who exploit. Right now the worst case for an employer who is caught exploiting is that they are made to pay back what they owe to a worker without any penalty or consequence. We think most people would agree that’s simply ludicrous.”
