In the Judicial review proceedings of Amjad Hussein -V- The Labour Court and Mohammah Younis [2012] No. 194 J.R., the High Court has overturned a Labour Court Decision awarding the sum of €92,000 in compensation to a migrant worker in respect of claims under the Terms of Employment (Information) Act, 1994, the Organisation of Working Time Act, 1997 and the National Minimum Wage Act, 2000 on the basis that the employee did not have a work permit.
Mr. Amjad Hussein, trading as the Poppadom Restaurant in Newlands Cross, Dublin, appealed the Decision of the Labour Court which awarded his employee, Mr. Muhammad Younis, substantial compensation for working excessive weekly hours and for a sum below the national minimum wage since 2002.
In his judgement, Mr. Justice Gerard Hogan noted the vulnerability of migrants who work without permits and are deprived of the benefits of employment legislation, but nonetheless quashed the earlier Decision of the Labour Court on the basis that Mr. Younis's employment was unlawful, as he had no work permit.
Mr. Justice Gerard Hogan accepted in his judgment that there were serious and important policy implications that the Minister for Jobs and the Oireachtas might consider addressing. He accepted that Mr. Younis he had been the victim of "the most appalling exploitation". He went on to say that the Oireachtas must regulate the labour market by specifically deterring illegal immigrants from taking up employment, that legislation, if applied unyieldingly, might have serous consequences for vulnerable migrants exploited by unscrupulous employers.
Mr. Hussein challenged the Labour Court Decision on the basis that Mr. Younis had no entitlement to the protection of employment legislation because he did not have a work permit contrary to the Employment Permits Act, 2003.
Mr. Justice Hogan shall be forwarding a copy of his Judgement to An Ceann Comhairle and the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation so that the Oireachtas may further consider the policy implications that arise from the Employment Permits Act, 2003.
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