Company admits it did not record number of hours its staff worked

THE Turkish company accused of wage fraud and underpaying workers admitted to Government inspectors in February that it was not recording how many hours its employees work.

Earlier this year the managing director of Gama Construction Ireland, Hakan Karaalioglu, also conceded wage slips were not being given to Turkish workers in Ireland.

The lack of wage slips and records of hours worked is a crucial element of the Turkish Workers Action Group’s (TWAG) campaign against Gama since the company has been accused of paying for a 40-hour week while demanding that employees work 80 hours.

In a letter to Labour Inspectorate manager Edward Nolan on March 3, Mr Karaalioglu said the company had been informed of the legal requirement to record working hours as far back as 2002.

Despite this, Mr Karaalioglu admitted no records were being kept. “The company is not keeping working time records in accordance with the regulations,” his letter read before promising to rectify the matter. Mr Karaalioglu’s letter, which is outlined in Government High Court affidavits made public yesterday, also tells how an internal company investigation had found “pay slips were only handed out in Turkey where their employees have their formal employment contract.”

The documents, released yesterday, as Gama attempts to prevent publication of a Labour Inspectorate report into allegations of wage fraud, also reveal Gama initially welcomed the investigation it is now trying to gag.

In a letter dated February 9, Mr Karaalioglu requested that the investigation be carried out as a matter of urgency. “I would like to emphasise that the company is prepared to fully cooperate with any planned investigation carried out by Department officials. We are also happy to produce all documents requested by your representatives to facilitate such an investigation,” he wrote.

In his affidavit, Mr Nolan said publication of his report was a “matter of great urgency” since “very serious issues” requiring “immediate attention by the appropriate authorities” had been uncovered.

“It is a matter of great urgency that the final draft of the report is transmitted to the minister and that he is in a position to take such steps as he and the Government consider necessary in the public interest to vindicate the rights of any employees whose rights have been or may be infringed,” he said.