Indian hotelier to pay compensation to waiter in Oz
Tuesday, 08/09/2015
http://paper.hindustantimes.com/epaper/viewer.aspx
MELBOURNE: An Indian-origin hotelier has been ordered by an Australian court to pay 15,000 dollars in compensation to a Nepalese-origin waiter who was denied salary for not ‘speaking proper English’.
Milan Dehal, 29, who worked at Indian Masala Restaurant in Adelaide, had been fighting for almost 18 months for 1640.06 Australian dollars of salary.
The Industrial Relations Court awarded 15,000 dollars ($10,000) in compensation after manager Nicholas Sharma refused to pay him salary partly because he ‘can’t even speak proper English’, the Herald Sun reported.
During the hearing, Sharma denied he had to pay weekend penalty rates to Dehal for his work.
“I’m offering to pay it, but not the amount that has been asked for, a person who can’t even speak proper English and he’s demanding $30 an hour,” he told the court.
He had claimed that Nepalese-born Dehal was only entitled to $17.50 an hour which is below the weekend award rate.
Dehal, meanwhile, said he had fought for the rights of other exploited workers.
