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I walked into this cosmopolitan-looking bar in crows nest because I wanted to be productive and have some income during summer break. I asked them if they were
hiring someone and they said yes. So we set up an interview time and I went for the interview, so far so good. In the end of the interview I asked them if they pay above award rate and I got a ‘yes’ from the owner.
I went in for a trial a few days later and before I left my shift I was told that I was hired. I once again confirmed with the owner that they would pay me above the award rate. I also confirmed with them that they would hire me legally, meaning that I would sign a contract with them and everything. Knowing that, I signed up for some shifts. Fast forward to my second shift, the owner still hadn’t sent me the contract and set up payment details like they promised to, so I kept reminding them both verbally and in writing. They still hadn’t paid me until my fourth shift and I just couldn’t stop wondering if there was something dodgy going on.
Before my fifth shift I sent the owner an email, giving him an ultimatum. I expected to see my hourly rates being above award but only to find that those rates just a bit higher than the minimum wage and I was given rates for a ‘probationary period’ that would last for, basically, however long they wanted it to be. What is funny is, it is illegal to pay people different rates for probation, although a probationary period itself is not against the law. They have solicitors for running their business so I don’t think they didn’t know that. So what does it say? They were probably expecting me to be legally ignorant and just take that as it is.
Realizing they were lying to me, I wrote them back, citing the government policies and reasons why they shouldn’t pay me less than they had promised to. The owner withdrew the offer he made to me right away, making another promise that the company would pay the shifts that I had worked. I think probably a month had passed before I went to SUPRA for legal help because I have yet to receive a cent from them.
The solicitor at SUPRA was very helpful and she helped me along the way in helping me draft demand letters and contacting them to pay. However, the company has remained unresponsive and unaffected by the illegal conduct to this date. I was seriously thinking about suing them but my solicitor suggested that she has seen too many companies playing with legal grey areas by associating themselves with a trust that does not own a cent so that they remain financially intact once sued for money. To add to that, the fees that suing might entail will outweigh what I will probably get back, and the court decision will at best be a piece of futile legal document unless I hire the sheriff for enforcement, which again, costs money. What makes it worse is that as an international student I don’t feel like my rights will be protect as well as those of the citizens and at times I feel vulnerable.