Chinese chef awarded €150k by WRC for multiple breaches of employment rights
Kenneth Fox
A migrant chef from China has been awarded €154,828 from the Workplace Relations Commission for various serious employment rights breaches between 2022 and 2024 with Ming Gao (later Eskimo Gao Ming Limited) in Ballyjamesduff, Cavan.
The WRC found he was paid below the minimum wage, with a total underpayment of €65,505.
They found he was subject to excessive working hours, which exceeded the legal maximum of 48 hours per week. He worked 6-7 days a week, averaging 63-73 hours per week.
He worked 105 Sundays without proper compensation. No annual leave or public holiday pay. He did not receive mandated rest breaks or weekly rest periods
The WRC said he was subjected to very serious racial discrimination and exploitation, specifically linked to the worker’s vulnerability due to the restrictive nature of his employment permit and a lack of information on his rights.
Xiaofeng Gao came to Ireland on an employment permit in July 2022.
The employer extracted €30,000 from the worker throughout his employment as a charge for providing this employment permit. This is a breach of the Employment Permit Act.
Mr Gao was especially vulnerable. As the holder of an employment permit, he was not permitted to change employers.
He was completely dependent on his employer for his accommodation, immigration status, and livelihood in Ireland. He had little to no English and no connections in Ireland.
The employer also confiscated his passport. He was not in a realistic position to come forward to lodge his complaints sooner.
Only when Xiaofeng obtained external assistance to be able to leave his employment, accommodation, and secure his future immigration status separately from this employer, was it possible for him to come forward and lodge his complaints, which he did within one month of leaving.
Speaking about the case, Sylwia Nowakowska, workplace rights coordinator with the Migrant Rights Centre Ireland, said, “More must be done to protect workers in the employment permit system from this type of abuse.
"Workers need to be more clearly and proactively communicated with in their own language about their labour rights and about the permit system.”
"Currently, permit holders' ability to change jobs is severely restricted for 5 full years. MRCI is calling for that to be reduced to 2 years. This would enable workers to better stand up for themselves at work and to leave exploitative employment like this much more easily if they need to.”
“Finally, we would like to see much more substantial deterrents for employers who severely exploit their workers, including criminal charges and a ban from applying for future permits.”
