A Dublin Labour Party councillor has resigned after she was found to have underpaid an employee by thousands of euro.
Councillor Juliet O'Connell, who owns The Zip Yard in Dun Laogaire, was ordered to pay former employee Patricia Oropeza-Vedia over €11,000 in compensation and back pay by the Workplace Relations Commission. Labour initiated an internal investigation after being alerted to the case.
In a statement released this evening, it was that Cllr O'Connell had resigned from the party and would not be contesting the next local elections in June. The statement read: "Cllr Juliet O’Connell has resigned from the Labour Party this evening and will not be a candidate for the Labour Party at the local elections.
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"The Labour Party only became aware this morning via press query of the WRC adjudication involving Juliet O’Connell Limited. The Party immediately moved to activate internal processes to establish the circumstances of what had happened.
"The findings of this case are completely at odds with our Party values and long established position on protecting, promoting and strengthening workers’ rights."
The tribunal heard that Bolivian national Ms Oropeza-Vedia came to Ireland in 2019 and initially worked part-time for Ms O'Connell before agreeing to go full-time on the condition that she could secure a work permit. The job offer letter from Ms O'Connell's company in support of Ms Oropeza-Vedia's work permit application stated that she would be employed as a "business development interior designer" with a base salary of €30,000.
However, when she tried to renew the permit in early 2023, the application was rejected as Revenue records showed she had been earning less than what was stated in her original visa application. She subsequently resigned on 7 February 2023 as she was afraid she would be deported if she was found to be working illegally.
The WRC noted the letter stated Ms Oropeza-Vedia would be paid €30,000 per year, or €576.92 per week. But payslips presented to adjudicator Catherine Byrne showed she was only paid €460 per week - equivalent to €23,920 a year.
The tribunal found there was a shortfall in Ms Oropeza-Vedia's wages of €6,016 while 67 hours overtime at time and a half was also due to her. This brought the total sum awarded under the Payment of Wages Act to €7,378, after some statutory deductions.
Ms O'Connell was also ordered to pay her former employee €1,154 for 10 days' unpaid annual leave entitlements and the same sum again for breach of statutory rights. She was also ordered to pay a further €1,731 as the job description "fails to explain the reality of her [Ms Oropeza-Vedia's] role in the respondent’s business", bringing the total sum awarded to €11,417.
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