The Complainant was employed by the Respondent as a Receptionist from September 2016 until she resigned in May 2019. The Complainant submitted that when she commenced working with the Respondent she was not provided with a written statement of terms and conditions of employment by the Respondent and that throughout her employment the Respondent constantly expanded the range of duties assigned to her. The Complainant stated that the Respondent Manager’s mother, who had an interest in the business, constantly monitored the reception staff on CCTV and if she observed them having “downtime” she would ring them and tell them to do the hoovering along with other housekeeping duties.

The Complainant submitted that while in employment with the Respondent she did not get any breaks.   She submitted that she worked 8/9 hour shifts with no rostered breaks provided. The Complainant added further that she and a number of her colleagues working for the Respondent are Brazilian. She submitted that the Manager’s mother had a “racist attitude” towards people of her nationality.

When the Manager’s mother was informed the new receptionist was Brazilian, the Manager’s mother replied “of course, the Mother and the world is Brazilian. I hope your English is good”.  Both the Complainant and the new staff member were left feeling very uncomfortable by what had occurred, it was alleged. In relation to this incident, The Respondent submitted that he didn’t think his mother would say something like what was being alleged.

The Adjudication Officer was struck by the fact that the Respondent had no contract or job description in place. Neither had the Respondent any other relevant policies in place (e.g. Grievance Policy, Disciplinary Policy, Dignity at Work Policy, Use of CCTV policy) and no training had been provided to staff and managers in relation to respect in the workplace.

The Adjudication officer concluded that the Respondent had little or no regard for the rights of the Complainant and displayed a “laissez-faire” attitude to his obligations as an employer. Furthermore, the Respondent took no steps to ascertain what had occurred in relation to the alleged racial slur and offered little by way of defence of these matters.

The Adjudication Officer was satisfied that the Respondent would not have treated an Irish person in such a manner. Accordingly, the Respondent was ordered to pay the Complainant compensation in the sum of €15,000 for the effect of the discrimination. The Respondent was also ordered to pay an additional sum of €1,600 compensation for the breach of the Organisation of Working Time Act and four week’s pay by way of compensation for failure to issue a written statement of terms and conditions of employment.
https://www.workplacerelations.ie/en/cases/2020/october/adj-00023445.html