A waiter employed by a company jointly owned by Dublin City Council who claimed he was receiving less than the minimum wage has been awarded €650 in compensation by the Labour Court.
The court said that Fado Restaurant in the Mansion House had failed to keep adequate records to demonstrate it had paid the waiter, Mr Jose Izquierdo, his minimum legal entitlement.
The restaurant is owned by Mansion House Ltd, a joint venture between the council and a private company, IFM Financial Management Ltd.
A spokeswoman for the council said yesterday it had no involvement in the day-to-day running of the business, but was responsible only for the building in which it was housed.
Mr Izquierdo told the court that, when he began working at the restaurant in November 2002, he was paid €39.09 a shift, as per his contract. He claimed, however, that he had not been paid for all the hours he worked. When these were taken into account, his actual pay was €5.26 per hour, he said.
At the time the minimum wage was €6.35 an hour. Mr Izquierdo was seeking payment from the company of €1,314, claiming he had worked 1,205 hours at €1.09 below the minimum wage.
The company, however, told the court it had paid the waiter €6.35 for all hours worked and denied owing him any money.
In its decision, the court said rosters provided to it by the employer were inconclusive, as they did not indicate Mr Izquierdo's actual finishing times.There was an onus on the company, under Section 22 (3) of the National Minimum Wage Act, to prove that it had complied with the legislation, it said.
The court found that on the balance of probabilities the employer had failed to prove it had complied with the Act in Mr Izquierdo's case. It also believed, however, that the amount claimed by him was overstated, and awarded him €650 to cover the arrears of payments.
The council spokeswoman said it would always wish to see the minimum-wage legislation upheld, and it would consider raising the matter with the restaurant management company.
