UAE | Employment
Dream job turns into 'nightmare'
Egyptian waitresses, in dispute with their employer over non-payment of four months' salary, said that although they worked 18 hours a day, seven days a week, they were reduced to living on tips from customers.
- By Samir Salama, Bureau Chief
- Published: 00:00 July 4, 2006
Abu Dhabi: Egyptian waitresses, in dispute with their employer over non-payment of four months' salary, said that although they worked 18 hours a day, seven days a week, they were reduced to living on tips from customers.
They claim that cancellation of their work visas would be disastrous because they took a loan of 15,000 Egyptian pounds (Dh10,095) each against cheques and may face prison if they cannot pay it back.
"My dream of a big salary and a good life degenerated into a nightmare after my sponsor failed to pay me for four months," said Amira Nagui Mohammad.
Amira, a university student, said she took leave from university to get the job with the Abu Dhabi Layaleena coffee shop and support her mother who suffers from diabetes and liver disorders.
The four women claim they were insulted and thrown out of the coffee shop when they demanded their salaries from their employer.
"Our sponsor got angry and called us names and threw us and the customers out on the street when we demanded our salaries," said Sahar Ebrahim Al Masri.
The sponsor, Ahmad Bakhit, denied that he failed to pay the women.
"I bought the coffee shop around four months ago. They [the women] drew their salaries from the old owner of the coffee shop, who was running the coffee shop for a transitional period.
"When I asked the old owner to deliver the coffee shop documents and documents of the workers, he refused and incited the waitresses and waiters to plot against me.
However, I offered them [before the Labour Ministry's legal consultant] the chance to receive the salaries and other end-of-service benefits, but they refused to accept the offer," Bakhit said.
He also dismissed as sheer lies the women's claim that he insulted them.
The women, along with four other Egyptian waiters and a Bangladeshi waiter, submitted a complaint to the Labour Ministry, also complaining against ill-treatment and non-provision of accommodation for the men.
The Egyptian waiters got their dispute settled with the employer, but the waitresses and their Bangladeshi colleague refused to accept the settlement demanding that the dispute be referred to court.
They claimed the legal consultant at the Labour Ministry was biased against them and failed to listen to their grievances.
Arif Mirza, head of the legal department at the Labour Ministry, said workers whose employer fails to pay their salaries for three months or more are entitled to get their sponsorship transferred without approval of the original sponsor and the business or businesses of the sponsor must be suspended.
"The workers who think that they were misrepresented by the legal consultant of the Labour Ministry are entitled to complain to senior officials at the ministry or demand that their dispute be looked into by the court," Mirza said.
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