A Co. Tipperary mushroom producer allegedly paid a female Romanian mushroom picker as low as €4.06/hour.
Now, a state workplace watchdog has ordered Stablefield Ltd. to pay former harvest manager at the firm, Ana Lacramioara Manciu €15,058 in arrears over the company’s failure to pay her the national minimum wage over a 12-month period from September 2015 to September 2016.
In her findings, Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) adjudicator, Úna Glazier Farmer stated that she accepted Lacramioara Manciu’s undisputed evidence in its entirety and that her complaint is well founded.
Employment at mushroom producer
Ana Lacramioara Manciu provided evidence of working 14 and 15-hour long days but only getting paid for 6.58 hours and 6.77 hours on those days by Stablefield Ltd.
The former employee alleged that Stablefield Ltd. falsified her working hours and the WRC adjudicator stated that the “falsification of working hours with the clear intention of deceiving the complainant and underpaying her significantly less than the national minimum wage, is the most heinous breach of her employment rights”.
Glazier Farmer stated that Stablefield Ltd. sought to take advantage of Lacramioara Manciu, who was not familiar with her employment rights upon arrival in Ireland.
The WRC has also awarded Ana Lacramioara Manciu €2,000 in expenses in connection with the dispute brought under Section 24 of the National Minimum Wage Act, 2000.
The adjudicator stated that Lacramioara Manciu gave her evidence with exceptional detail and clarity despite the passage of time and was clear as to dates, times and events, with reference to supporting evidence.
Evidence in the WRC case
Represented by Arthur Cox Solicitors and barrister Sharon Dillon Lyons in the case, it was submitted that Ana Lacramioara Manciu was paid an average hourly rate of between €4.06 to €4.65 to €5.55 to €6.17 over the course of her employment.
During this period, the national minimum wage in July 2011 was set at €8.65 and increased to €9.15 on January 1, 2016.
Lacramioara Manciu was initially employed as a mushroom picker on December 10, 2012, and through a series of promotions held the position of harvest manager when she left her employment in 2016.
She gave evidence that she and her husband came from Romania to work with Stablefield Ltd. and had little English.
The most recent accounts filed by Stablefield Ltd. to the Companies Registration Office (CRO) show that it recorded revenues of €4.93 million in 2020 and recorded post-tax profits of €183,538.
During 2020, the company – which has its registered office at Killeaton, Clogheen, Co. Tipperary – employed 74 people.
Alleged underpayment
During her time with the firm, Lacramioara Manciu took screenshots of the clock-in clock out system.
They showed that on February 5, 2015, she clocked in at 6:05a.m and clocked out at 21:57p.m with 70 minutes automatically deducted for breaks showing that she worked 15 hours and 12 minutes.
Evidence concerning another date shows that on February 7, Lacramioara Manciu clocked in from 6:15a.m to 21:02p.m – working hours of 14 hours and 47 minutes.
In contrast, a company monthly pay analysis of hours presented by Lacramioara Manciu records 6.58 hours worked by her on February 5, 2015 and 6.77 hours worked by her on February 7, 2015.
She alleged that it was this falsified pay analysis sheet that was kept by Stablefield Ltd. for the purposes of demonstrating its compliance with employment legislation around pay and working hours.
Ms. Lacramioara Manciu opened screenshots of the clock-in and out times and it was her evidence that these working hours were regularly, if not daily, allegedly altered by company owner, Tom Sweeney.
In her sworn evidence, the former employee said that she was surprised that she was required to work until 10:00p.m.
She stated that she was informed by the other employees at the time that this was the way things worked, and it did not matter how many hours she worked, the focus was on the number of kilos of mushrooms she picked.
Lacramioara Manciu subsequently found out that for each kg she picked, she was given 30c which was later increased to 33c.
Stablefield Ltd.’s legal representatives appeared at the hearing to object to the WRC’s jurisdiction to hear the minimum wage complaint.
The WRC adjudicator dismissed the preliminary objection and recorded that the firm’s legal representatives left the hearing and made no submission or evidence in response to the claim.