A stable worker who said she was left short on her wages after working 60-hour weeks all last summer for a horse dealer has won over €4,500 for multiple employment rights breaches.
Statutory complaints by the worker, Valentine Jevardat De Fombelle, under the National Minimum Wage Act 2000, the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997 the Payment of Wages Act 1991 against Co Sligo-registered TG Sporthorses Ltd have been upheld at the Workplace Relations Commission.
Ms Jevardat De Fombelle, a French national, told the tribunal she started on a one-week "trial" on 24 April 2025 and started paid work a week later on a stated wage of €1,200 every four weeks. She quit on 15 August that year, she said.
Ms Jevardat De Fombelle's evidence was that she was regularly required to work over the legal maximum number of hours.
On average, she said, she worked 60 hours or more a week during her employment.
She said her employer had "could not keep up" with weekly payments to her and began paying her on a monthly basis.
Over a three-month period, Ms Jevardat De Fombelle told the tribunal, she had been paid 12 weeks' wages for 13 weeks' work.
Her case was that she was left short by €2,815 in wages. Ms Jevardat De Fombelle said she had looked for her payslips in order to try and calculate her hourly pay, but had no reply.
Adjudication officer Valerie Murtagh noted in her decision, published today, that Ms Jevardat De Fombelle's evidence was uncontested as the respondent company "did not attend the hearing".
Ms Murtagh directed the respondent to pay Ms Jevardat De Fombelle €2,815 under the Payment of Wages Act.
She awarded a further €500 in compensation for a breach of the National Minimum Wage Act, as the worker "did not receive the minimum hourly rate for the hours she worked", the adjudicator wrote.
Ms Murtagh awarded €750 for excessive working hours and a further €500 for the failure to pay a Sunday premium, two breaches of the Organisation of Working Time Act.
The total awarded to Ms Jevardat De Fombelle in the case was €4,565.
