A decision in the case of a former employee of an Abrakebabra restaurant in Donnybrook, Dublin, who claims her wages were reduced and work conditions changed, has been deferred until November by the Employment Appeals Tribunal.
Yunzhu Zhao, who worked in an Abrakebabra fast food restaurant in The Mall, Donnybrook, for more than 5½ years, told the tribunal that she resigned her position as assistant manager when the new owner Ken Boyne informed her that she would have to work night shifts, take a reduction in wages and no longer act as an assistant manager.
She said that on October 25th, 2005, a day after Mr Boyne took over as new owner, a staff meeting had been organised during which she and other workers were asked to fill out an application form.
This form had stipulated that all workers would be subject to a six-month probation period.
Following a private meeting with Mr Boyne, Ms Zhao said she asked him not to put her back on the roster. A week following her resignation she received a cheque for €32 which was to account for the four hours worked as an employee of Mr Boyne.
Ms Zhao told the tribunal that this was less than the €8.75 an hour she had been earning, included no severance payment after working for the company for seven years on O'Connell Street and Donnybrook, and took no account of holiday pay.
"He pushed me to leave, my position had been changed," she said.
Mr Boyne, however, said he had been in the US when he received a phone call to say that Ms Zhao had arrived in the restaurant to collect her wages. He said he had been informed by Ms Zhao on a previous occasion that she earned €400 a week and that when he divided this by 50 hours, he arrived at the sum of €8 a hour.
He added that payment of holiday or severance pay was not his responsibility as he had only just taken over the restaurant when Ms Zhao resigned.
Mr Boyne insisted it had been his intention simply to collect PPS numbers and contact details from staff on the application form and had advised workers that the six-month probation period did not affect them as current employees of the company.
He said he never indicated to Ms Zhao that her wages would change and had informed her that only on the "rare occasion" would she have to work one or two night shifts a month.
"I was going into a business where I was very dependent on the staff," Mr Boyne said.
The tribunal reserved judgment to allow it to hear further submissions from witnesses on November 20th at 10.30am.