Housemaid sues City boss for £240k after ‘years of 18-hour days’
A HOUSEMAID who claims she worked 18-hour days, seven days a week is suing her former boss for nearly £240,000, claiming the wealthy financier failed to pay her the minimum wage.
Elvira Macato was a live-in maid for Francis Menassa, the chief executive of wealth and asset management firm Jar Capital, based in London, for nearly 12 years.
She worked at his home in Oxshott, Surrey, from May 2004 until January last year and, according to a writ issued at London’s High Court, her duties included cleaning, cooking, ironing and looking after his three children.
Miss Macato, originally from the Philippines, claims she was underpaid for the long days she worked throughout the week. She also claims that she took only two months and two days of holiday during her time with the family.
Her lawyers say she is owed £236,170 in back pay.
Julian Milford, for Miss Macato, states in the writ: ‘The defendant failed to pay the claimant for her work at a rate equating to the national minimum wage and the claimant has suffered loss and damage accordingly. ‘Miss Macato was responsible for looking after the defendant’s three children when they were not at school or nursery, cleaning, tidying and carrying out general housework in the defendant’s family home, preparing and cooking meals, clearing up after meals, doing the family’s laundry and carrying out any other domestic tasks that might be required by the defendant or his wife. ‘She was responsible for caring for the defendant’s children if they awoke a night, including feeding, comforting and changing the defendant’s youngest son. She often slept with the defendant’s children in order to do so.’
The former maid, who now lives in Edgware, North London, claims her workload increased at the weekend, when she would be expected to carry out the same household tasks but would have ‘further childcare duties as a result of the children not attending school or nursery’.
Miss Macato also alleges she had to prepare food and drinks when her employer entertained guests and had to clear up.
The writ says: ‘She was responsible for assisting by variously caring for the children, waiting on guests, preparing food and drink, and cleaning. She was not permitted to sleep until clearing up after the event was complete.’
The writ also claims that her time off during the years she worked for Mr Menassa amounted to a break of two months and ten days when she returned to the Philippines in 2009, and two other days off.
Mr Menassa’s defence was not available from the court and Miss Macato’s case has yet to be tested before a judge. But he vehemently denied her claims in a separate employment tribunal case, which was postponed in August.
At a previous hearing in that case, Mr Menassa said Miss Macato worked just eight hours a day and was ‘treated like a family member’.
He also told the tribunal that the proceedings were causing ‘huge anxiety and stress’ to him and his wife, Sotiria.
‘Responsible for the children’