'Employee' test case 'could see thousands of families letting their au pairs go next week'
A landmark Workplace Relations Commission ruling ordering an Irish family to pay more than €9,000 to their au pair, could lead to thousands of foreign workers making claims.
The Spanish au pair was awarded the pay out, after it emerged she had been paid €100 a week by her host family.
The Workplace Relations Commission claimed the payment amounted to less than the minimum wage.
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Sean Kavanagh is the Director of SK Dublin Language Programmes - an organisation that places students in an au pair and language programmes here - and he says yesterday's case sets a precedent for the future payment.
He said: "Families are in a difficult position now in that any au pair could theoretically take a case throught the WRC against the family looking for minimum wage.
"That's a terrible situation for families to be in and for agencies, etc. If there is a real fear that this would happen, we could see thousands of families letting their au pairs go next week."
