Skip to content
Home » PAM member won in court: Cook awarded over 60,000 euros in compensation and unpaid wages
Articles

09.01.2025 10:12

PAM member won in court: Cook awarded over 60,000 euros in compensation and unpaid wages

A cook was not paid overtime pay or supplements and was dismissed after asking for them. PAM supported the member, and the court ordered the restaurant owner to pay the unpaid wages as well as compensation for unfair dismissal and discrimination.

The PAM member worked as a cook in a restaurant and had accumulated a significant amount of overtime. When the cook pointed this out to the employer and requested overtime pay and supplements provided in the collective agreement, the employer was not pleased. The employer immediately asked the cook to take unpaid sick leave.

Shocked by this treatment, the employee visited a doctor and, the next day, brought a medical certificate to the employer. The employer confiscated the workplace keys and assigned no further shifts to the employee.

PAM helped take the matter to court

With PAM’s assistance, the employee took the case to the district court, demanding compensation for the unjustified termination of employment and the unpaid wages. Additional compensation was sought under the Equality Act, as the dismissal was clearly in retaliation to the employee’s request for overtime pay and the termination also happened immediately after the employee took sick leave.

The employer did not respond to the court summons, and the court ruled in favour of the employee with a default judgment.

The employer was ordered to pay the following:

  • €30,000, equal to 10 months’ salary, for unjustified dismissal.
  • €20,982.61 for the missing supplements and overtime pay under the collective agreement.
  • €10,000 in compensation under the Equality Act.
  • €3,000 for one month’s salary, as the employment was effectively terminated without notice.

Additionally, the employer must pay PAM’s legal costs of €6,780.

The employer has the right to appeal the district court’s decision.

Text: Hildur Boldt
Picture: Shutterstock

Expert support at all stages of working life

PAM members benefit from advice and help in all manner of employment matters. If there are challenges at work, we have experts in collective agreements and labour law to help you. We know the working conditions in the services sector inside out, because we negotiate them directly with employers’ associations. PAM’s legal aid is excellent, because there are no co-payments or caps on legal expenses.

Employment advice and legal aid from PAM

Keywords:

hotel and restaurant industry membership

What did you think of this content?

Read next

Search