The Hindu : Huge compensation awarded for Indian maid

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jul 23, 2003

International

International - India & World

Huge compensation awarded for Indian maid

London July 22. A 31-year-old woman, who was brought from India to work as a housemaid by a high-earning English couple, has been awarded nearly £ 40,000 by a London Employment Tribunal, on the grounds of being exploited, paid less than the minimum wages and made to work long hours. An advice centre for domestic workers, Kalayaan, took up Girija Sujatha's case.

The Tribunal was told that Annabelle Manwaring, a director with the Leo Burnett advertising agency in Chelsea, had brought Sujatha from India where she used to work for Ms. Manwaring's great aunt. Her husband, Michael worked as a management consultant and the couple had a six-figure income and live in a six-bedroom house in Highgate, London.

Sujatha began work at 7 a.m. and went on until at least 9.30 p.m., seven days a week. She cooked, cleaned and cared for the couple and their four daughters, aged from five to 17.

The Tribunal was told that she rarely received the full wages. She had come to London in 1998 and after getting the work permit, she was entitled to the minimum wage (£ 4.50 per hour) which came into force in 1999. But she was paid less than one pound per hour.

Ms. Manwaring claimed in her defence that the maid was treated like a family member leaving no obligation to pay the full rate. But the Tribunal found that Sujatha was like a slave and rarely included in the family's activities.

She told the court: ``I had to work long hours and I felt very lonely. I carried on working there because I didn't know what to do.'' — UNI

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