Limerick restaurant ordered to pay €57k to migrant worker for underpayment of minimum wage
Seán McCárthaigh
The owner of a fast food restaurant in Limerick has been ordered to pay compensation of over €57,000 to a migrant worker who had to work up to 18-hour days across a number of his employer’s businesses without receiving the national minimum wage.
The Workplace Relations Commission ruled that the company which operates Mix Spice 3 in 1 in Davis Street, Limerick has breached the National Minimum Wage Act 2000 over its failure to pay the delivery driver the proper wage between August 2021 and October 2023.
The WRC directed that the name of the complainant, who was represented by Migrant Rights Centre Ireland, should not be published due to his vulnerability.
It heard he had been entirely dependent on his employer for accommodation, immigration status and livelihood in Ireland until his dismissal from the job.
Evidence
The man gave evidence that while he was listed as being employed as a chef de partie, he had actually worked as both a delivery driver and a phone shop assistant.
He told the WRC that he worked in a phone shop, Solo Mobile, in Limerick – where he also lived – from 8am to 5.30/6.00pm six days a week.
The complainant then continued working as a delivery driver for Mix Spice 3 in 1 in Limerick from 6pm until 2.30/3.00am seven days a week.
The driver said when not working or living at Solo Mobile, he worked in another of the company’s mobile phone outlets, Tech More Gadgets, in Templemore, Co Tipperary between 9am and 7.30pm six days a week as a shop attendant and mobile phone technician.
On occasions, the complainant said he also worked at another of his employer’s businesses – Five Star Kebab and Pizza in Castleconnell, Co Limerick.
He told the WRC that he did not receive wages but was provided instead with accommodation, one free daily meal and a car with insurance.
'Beg for money'
The man said he had to “beg for money” from his employer and used to receive amounts ranging from €10 to €50 on an irregular basis.
The WRC heard that the company which operated the fast food restaurant, Broz Asset Private Limited, also sent an average of €410 per month directly to his family in Pakistan.
The complainant said he was extremely fearful for both himself and his family while working for the company because he felt intimidated by his employer’s connections to the police and politicians in his home city in Pakistan.
He recalled being given three cheques worth around €2,900 after begging for his wages when he visited Pakistan in 2023 to visit his ill father and to attend his own engagement.
Complaint
The man said he submitted a complaint to the WRC after he got no response from his employer to his request for a statement outlining his average hourly rate of pay.
The WRC heard he worked up to 115½ hours per week in 2021 which had been reduced to 60 hours by 2023.
WRC adjudication officer, Úna Glazier-Farmer ruled that the complainant’s evidence had not been disputed due to the failure of the company to attend a hearing of the case.
Ms Glazier-Farmer accepted the delivery driver’s evidence over his working hours during a period when the National Minimum Wage ranged from €10.20 to €11.30 per hour.
She directed that the company pay him a sum of €56,504 in arrears for underpayment of the national minimum hourly wage.
The WRC also ordered it to pay the complainant an additional €1,000 towards reasonable expenses he had incurred for processing the claim.
