Restaurant workers dispute over employer’s alleged exploitation

A group of Food & Beverage (F&B) workers from the Palácio Lisboa food court made a collective complaint to the Labor Affairs Bureau (DSAL) yesterday, claiming they’d been exploited by their employer through working overtime and having work on public holidays without compensation.
One of the complainants, Ms Chong, told the media that she has been working in the same restaurant for 17 years but has never been compensated for overtime work. “We work for 8.5 or 9 hours a day, which includes the half-an-hour lunch time,” she said. “Also, when our monthly days off happen to be scheduled on a mandatory public holiday, we don’t get a compensated day off. We feel that we’ve been exploited.”
As to why they haven’t spoken out until now, Ms Chong explained that everybody has been deterred, fearing they might receive punishment from the company when showing an interest in filing a complaint. “But the situation hasn’t changed; we simply can’t stand it anymore. We think that if the company keeps treating us like this, there’s nothing left for us to stay [for],” she stressed.
Lawmaker José Pereira Coutinho, who accompanied twenty workers in their appeal to the DSAL, explained that the complaints were made by a total of 105 employees from the restaurant. Not only did they not receive transportation allowances for working night shifts, but they also had not received a fund account from their employer.
The lawmaker listed several instances in which the employer hadn’t approved elderly workers’ retirement requests. “The oldest worker there has reached the age of 71 but if he chooses to resign, he will lose all of his retirement compensations,” he said.
The workers had a meeting with the head of the bureau’s Labor Inspection Department, where they gave more details and appealed for acceptable compensation from their employer.  They also appealed for an annual bonus equal to a month’s salary.
“We just want to get back our eligible rights and interests,” said Ms Chong, adding that resentment is aroused among her colleagues every time they see a pay hike for casino workers in the Hotel Lisboa, within which their restaurant is located.
According to Coutinho, last year he received hundreds of complaints about working overtime without compensation.  Those complainants came from government departments, casinos and the banking sector.
The Times tried to clarify details on the ownership of the Palácio Lisboa restaurant, but the matter remains unclear. According to Ms Chong, the restaurant has nothing to do with Hotel Lisboa, whereas Mr Coutinho suggested that Hotel Lisboa is “indirectly related” to its ownership. “You can’t run a business inside Hotel Lisboa but not be related to Hotel Lisboa,” he said, adding that the restaurant is owned by “a group with many owners [shareholders].” He further revealed that “STDM owns the restaurant.” “STDM contacted me inquiring about the issue, which means they are interested in this,” he told the Times.