Filipino swim coaches win back thousands in docked wages after promise of 'a better life in Ireland' dashed

RTÉ News​

7 days ago

Three swimming instructors who were recruited from the Philippines to teach in Ireland only to have hundreds of euro a week docked off their wages for "training costs" before being let go have won their pay back.
It's after the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) found there was "no evidence" to back up a claim by the operator of a swim school that it had spent €3,000 to train each of the workers.
One of their former colleagues told the WRC she was hired on the promise of "a better life in Ireland" only to be "forced" into taking a pay cut out of fear of dismissal.
They were among a group of six Filipino instructors to pursue rights claims against the unidentified swim school, which were heard in Ennis, Co Clare, in November and December last year.
Five of the workers have now secured nearly €12,000 for breaches of the Payment of Wages Act 1991, while an allied claim by the sixth has yet to be published by the WRC.
All of the workers are Filipino nationals – the company's legal representative explaining that it was "the first European company to obtain a work permit for Filipinos as swimming instructors".
Two of the six instructors started work for the swim school in June 2022 and four more instructors were recruited in the Philippines in August 2022 and brought to Ireland in January 2023, the WRC heard.
However, within months of securing work visas and flying in the new instructors, the management of the school moved to shed staff, citing "financial reasons" for terminating the employment of three of the new hires during their probationary periods. They were identified only as Mr B, Ms R and Ms M in the WRC decisions.
The employer's position was that it had conducted "intensive" training with the newer instructors for the first three or four weeks they were in Ireland which had enhanced their skills, and paid each of them throughout that period, while making no income from them.
The owner of the swimming school, delivered the training personally, and provided employees with "instructional videos", the workers told the WRC. The employer's position was that this had cost €3,000 to provide.
Andrea Montanelli of Peninsula Business Services, who appeared for the employer in the case, said the company had "highly invested" in bringing the workers from the Phillipines, "paying for their work permits, for the visa, flights etc".
She submitted that a total of €1,692.38 was taken from three of the workers' last four pay packets in "instalments" of €641.45, €497.97, €276.48 and €276.48.
The company relied on a training agreement and a deductions from pay agreement signed by the three new hires in the Phillipines in August 2022 as the basis for taking the "instalments".
Under questioning from Elaine Davern-Wiseman BL, who acted for the group of workers instructed by Martina Murphy Solicitors, the workers explained that these agreements were provided to them in English, without a translation to Tagalog provided, and that they signed them without having an opportunity to take legal advice.
The workers each said they were already qualified swimming instructors when they were recruited, and that the only training they had was in how to teach swimming lessons "the [company] way".
Unpaid hours
A fourth instructor, Ms S, who was among the new hires in January 2023, remained an employee of the company at the time of the hearings last year.
The tribunal heard the employer asked the remaining staff to take a pay cut of €100 a week for 16 weeks between June and September 2023.
Ms S told the WRC in her complaint form: "I was employed on the promise of €576 per week and [the] chance of a better life in Ireland. This [was] not true. I was forced to sign a contract reducing my wages," she said.
Ms Montanelli submitted that the company was "encountering financial difficulties" and that Ms S and other staff members "accepted the proposal" that they take reduced wages.
Ms S's evidence was that she signed a document to that effect – but "was not aware that she could refuse to sign", the tribunal noted.
She believed she "had to sign it as others in similar roles had recently had their employment terminated" and "feared that a refusal to sign the agreement would result in the termination of her employment".
Ms S's evidence was that she did not have the chance to take legal advice or have the matter explained in her native language.
Adjudicator Orla Jones wrote that the employer "did not provide any evidence to support the claim" that the training for the three new hires actually cost the business €3,000 each. It could not rely on the agreements signed in the Philippines by the workers when they did not have the benefit of legal advice or an interpreter, she added.
She noted in her decision that the wording of the training costs agreement was that €3,000 referred to charging €3,000 to each worker if they were to "leave" the employment. Ms Jones wrote that each of the workers had their jobs terminated and had not chosen to leave.
She awarded Mr B, Ms R and Ms M €2,307.68 each, comprising three weeks' unpaid wages each and a further week's notice pay, in respect of the wages docked for the purported training costs.
Ms Jones ruled that the €1,600 docked from Ms A's wages between June and September was an "illegal" deduction and ordered the employer to pay her back the sum. She also awarded Ms A €1,626.90 for time she spent doing administration without pay.
A fifth instructor, Ms F, who had stayed on until her one-year contract ran out 28 June 2023, also secured €1,789.59 for working unpaid hours doing administration.
To date, the swim academy has been directed to pay €11,939.53 to the group of workers.
The names of the company and the employees were anonymised in WRC decisions published this week because they were linked to parallel proceedings under the Industrial Relations Act 1969, which must be heard in private.