Chef refused to be paid ‘under the table’

A head chef who claims he was fired after refusing to be paid “under the table” has been awarded €10,000 for unfair dismissal.

The chef had been working in the unidentified restaurant for more than a decade when it passed over to two new owners last December.

He told the Workplace Relations Commission that after about a week, one of the owners came into the kitchen and told him that from then on, he would get paid for 30 hours “on the books” and the balance would be cash under the table.