Same wage since 2003 - Advice needed

crazybaldhead

Hi all,

Not sure if this is the right forum for this so please move it accordingly.

I am posting on behalf of a friend who has been working in the same job as a mechanic since 2003 or so. It is a small garage with only himself and the boss working there.

He works Mon - Fri (and sometimes Saturday too) and does on average an 11 hour day (sometimes til 10pm at night). He gets no extra money for working Saturdays and has been on the same wage since he started in 2003. This is €420 net pay per week.

Basically I feel that he should have been entitled to some kind of an incremental scale over the last seven years so that his wages could have matched costs of living etc.

He has attempted to speak to his boss about it but he shrugs it off saying he doesnt have time to talk about it. The thing that annoys me is that he charges €55 an hour for labour and is never short of work, the garage is always out the door as they have an excellent reputation. Also the boss wouldnt appear most days until midday or there abouts.

My friend really does the lions share of the work and I feel he has been taken advantage of over the years. He suffers a bit from his nerves and never really wanted to tackle it but I can tell that he is very annoyed by it all.

Just to say that he his grateful to have a job in the current climate, but is looking for advice. I feel that he would be better off asking for an hourly rate and then he would be paid per hour worked and payed accordingly. He has also spoken about quitting, which would do him no good at all.

Can anyone offer any advice as to what he should do or who to contact to help him tackle it. There is no union involved btw. I appreciate any assistance.

Stheno

Has he got a written contract? Does it contain any clauses about overtime, hours of work etc? Under the working hours act, there is a maximum amount of work hours he can do in a week, and a minimum break between shifts also.

If he's on €420 net a week, then that's more than €25k net per year, so his gross is what, maybe €30k?

He needs to really sort out getting a contract if he hasn't one, or else having someone go through his contract and see if his boss is in breach of it. E.g. my contract has a clause that all overtime is unpaid, but will be expected from time to time.

Mrs OBumble

Has he tried looking for a new job?

mood

I think the guy has been very foolish. Why wait until the mist of a major recession to get a pay rise! He should job hunt then when offer a job tell the boss he is leaving unless he can match the salary the other company are offering. He should also insist on a contract asap.

crazybaldhead

Hi all, many thanks for the replies. As far as Im aware there is no contract in place but I will need to ask him this (will get back with answer).

To be perfectly honest he is a guy who wants very little out of life but has realised (albeit probably too late with regards to the recession) that he has been taken advantage thus far. I certainly feel that he is grossly underpaid for the work that he does and for the hours he puts in.

As for breaks.... I have never seen him even eat a sandwich or a packet of crisps when working... He is literally on his feet all day long.

I will advise him to sort out a contract and get some sort of conditions down on paper for the future if not down already.

I have had a look online and it seems that the Labour Relations Commission and Citizens Information might be good places for him to contact.

I really appreciate people taking the time to read this post and more importantly replying.