07/04/2026
Vasantkumar Barot thought about su***de daily when he was at his lowest point while working for just €1.61 an hour at a Louth restaurant.
He felt trapped.
The migrant worker (42) had to borrow from friends and family to cover his living expenses after selling his house in India to help cover a €15,000 payment for a work permit and the promise of a good job.
Flights were unaffordable, so he has not seen his wife or daughter for four years.
The Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) has ordered the owner of a chain of Indian restaurants to pay him €79,214 compensation.
The WRC heard that he was paid as little as €1.61 an hour and worked over 90 hours a week.
After all he has been through, Mr Barot has said he is happy with the award.
“Yeah, it’s good,” he said. “I’m happy about this decision. I didn’t take the case just for money. It’s because that time, I was like, every day, I was crying.
“That time was very hard for me, that one year, two years. Every day I was feeling like I might end my life. Every single day. Because I was like, ‘how do I explain how that time was?’.
