Forced Slavery on the increase in wealthy Irish houses
Foreign workers are being abused behind closed doors in wealthy Irish homes, an investigation by the Irish Independent has found. Domestic staff are bringing cases before the Rights Commissioner each week due to the level of alleged abuses, which include: - Withholding workers' passports and threatening them with deportation. - Forcing them to work up to 14 hours a day, six days a week. - Refusing to pay overtime. - Deducting 'expenses' from their pay, including accommodation and travel costs. In one case, an Indian woman was effectively held a prisoner in an Irish home for seven years. She was eventually helped to leave after a new neighbour arrived in the area. She went to a new employer 18 months ago but her case is still ongoing. The on-going problems mean cases are going before the Rights Commissioner for the first time. It is estimated that one case a week is being lodged but support workers in the area believe there are hundreds more abused workers who are too afraid to speak out. Settle Some of the cases never go to a full hearing as the employer decides to settle at the doors of the commission and offers compensation to their former employee. Rhonda Donaghy of SIPTU said many more cases are going to the Rights Commissioner than to the Employment Appeals Tribunal (EAT). "It's getting very very common," she said. "Not necessarily because abuses are becoming more common, but because workers are now more aware of their rights. Although we're always hearing of other cases where people are too afraid to come forward. "Quite often at the hearing, the employer will rock up with their pen and cheque book in hand and simply wants the problem to go away." She said although employers are well aware it's against the law, some will withhold the worker's passport. Others will threaten deportation if the employee complains. However, the most frequent problems are in the areas of pay and hours. Many of those who seek help are working in excess of 12 hours a day, six days a week. Even when they are in bed they are forced to sleep with the baby monitor beside them -- or with the child in their room. Ms Donaghy worked on her first case with the Rights Commissioner 18 months ago and used the example of a Vietnamese worker who was working with a couple in the south of Ireland for €50 a week after deductions. Accident The woman's children were involved in a horrific road accident and she wanted to go home for up to a month, but was told she would have to work up the airfare. A few days later, the couple 'loaned' her to their friends who were holding a dinner party. There, one of the guests noticed she was visibly upset, and after hearing her story, put in her touch with Siptu. However, her employer heard what had happened and brought her to the airport and put her on the first flight out of the country. "They were just thinking, 'we want this problem to go away'," said Ms Donaghy. But the case went ahead before the Commissioner in the worker's absence and she was awarded a substantial sum of money which has ensured she has a good standard of living in her native country. "The problem is the balance of power is always in favour of the employer and sometimes it can take the workers years to pluck up the courage to speak out," Ms Donaghy added. Esther Lynch of ICTU said domestic workers have little legal protection and are attempting to change this. They are pushing the Government to agree to a written convention to protect their rights, which would give them a 'minimum floor of rights'. "Even in some embassies, some domestic workers don't have rights. In those countries, the employment rights might not apply to the embassy so the workers don't even have the right to a minimum wage." The issue of wages was highlighted last week when it was revealed there has been only one prosecution in the past two years for breaches of the minimum wage, which is €8.65 an hour. This was despite the fact there had been 296 detections of this offence. In 2006 there were 104 cases and in 2007 there were 192 cases. A spokesman for the Rights Commissioner said they don't break down the complaints by occupation but, rather, under the Act where a complaint has been referred. In 2007 they handled 9,100 complaints, up from just over 7,000 the previous year. He believes about 12pc of their complaints are from migrant workers. - Edel Kennedy Share Digg del.icio.us Google Stumble Upon
Foreign workers are being abused behind closed doors in wealthy Irish homes, an investigation by the Irish Independent has found. Domestic staff are bringing cases before the Rights Commissioner each week due to the level of alleged abuses, which include: - Withholding workers' passports and threatening them with deportation. - Forcing them to work up to 14 hours a day, six days a week. - Refusing to pay overtime. - Deducting 'expenses' from their pay, including accommodation and travel costs. In one case, an Indian woman was effectively held a prisoner in an Irish home for seven years. She was eventually helped to leave after a new neighbour arrived in the area. She went to a new employer 18 months ago but her case is still ongoing. The on-going problems mean cases are going before the Rights Commissioner for the first time. It is estimated that one case a week is being lodged but support workers in the area believe there are hundreds more abused workers who are too afraid to speak out. Settle Some of the cases never go to a full hearing as the employer decides to settle at the doors of the commission and offers compensation to their former employee. Rhonda Donaghy of SIPTU said many more cases are going to the Rights Commissioner than to the Employment Appeals Tribunal (EAT). "It's getting very very common," she said. "Not necessarily because abuses are becoming more common, but because workers are now more aware of their rights. Although we're always hearing of other cases where people are too afraid to come forward. "Quite often at the hearing, the employer will rock up with their pen and cheque book in hand and simply wants the problem to go away." She said although employers are well aware it's against the law, some will withhold the worker's passport. Others will threaten deportation if the employee complains. However, the most frequent problems are in the areas of pay and hours. Many of those who seek help are working in excess of 12 hours a day, six days a week. Even when they are in bed they are forced to sleep with the baby monitor beside them -- or with the child in their room. Ms Donaghy worked on her first case with the Rights Commissioner 18 months ago and used the example of a Vietnamese worker who was working with a couple in the south of Ireland for €50 a week after deductions. Accident The woman's children were involved in a horrific road accident and she wanted to go home for up to a month, but was told she would have to work up the airfare. A few days later, the couple 'loaned' her to their friends who were holding a dinner party. There, one of the guests noticed she was visibly upset, and after hearing her story, put in her touch with Siptu. However, her employer heard what had happened and brought her to the airport and put her on the first flight out of the country. "They were just thinking, 'we want this problem to go away'," said Ms Donaghy. But the case went ahead before the Commissioner in the worker's absence and she was awarded a substantial sum of money which has ensured she has a good standard of living in her native country. "The problem is the balance of power is always in favour of the employer and sometimes it can take the workers years to pluck up the courage to speak out," Ms Donaghy added. Esther Lynch of ICTU said domestic workers have little legal protection and are attempting to change this. They are pushing the Government to agree to a written convention to protect their rights, which would give them a 'minimum floor of rights'. "Even in some embassies, some domestic workers don't have rights. In those countries, the employment rights might not apply to the embassy so the workers don't even have the right to a minimum wage." The issue of wages was highlighted last week when it was revealed there has been only one prosecution in the past two years for breaches of the minimum wage, which is €8.65 an hour. This was despite the fact there had been 296 detections of this offence. In 2006 there were 104 cases and in 2007 there were 192 cases. A spokesman for the Rights Commissioner said they don't break down the complaints by occupation but, rather, under the Act where a complaint has been referred. In 2007 they handled 9,100 complaints, up from just over 7,000 the previous year. He believes about 12pc of their complaints are from migrant workers. - Edel Kennedy Share Digg del.icio.us Google Stumble Upon