Rights violated, unpaid wages, intimidation… A French temporary worker believes he was wronged by the owner of a restaurant in Estrie where he was recruited as a cook. After a complaint filed with the Commission for Standards, Equity, Health and Safety at Work (CNESST), Jean-Philippe Grussemer is suing the Pilsen restaurant in North Hatley, demanding more than $10,000 for salary and vacation unpaid.
“I can’t wait for this nightmare to end.” All I want is to have the money that is owed to me,” said Mr. Grussemer, who spoke to Duty with his partner, Katy Baumann, alongside him in this battle.
It was in July 2021, in the middle of the pandemic, that Mr. Grussemer arrived in Quebec with his partner, who held an open work permit.
The couple says they were victims of multiple abuses which led them to file a complaint with the Ministry of Immigration, the CNESST and the Canadian Revenue Agency. The owner of Pilsen, Patrick Lajoie, preferred not to grant an interview, given that an amicable settlement conference was to be held on Friday between the two parties. The CNESST sued the restaurateur for unpaid salary and vacation in three other cases, which were settled by mutual agreement.
After three days spent in a hotel to respect health rules, Mr. Grussemer and his partner were forced to end their quarantine in a completely empty apartment located above the restaurant, in North Hatley. “There wasn’t even a single glass to drink from, not even a fork, nor sheets,” says M.me Baumann. His mother, who lived about thirty kilometers away, came to the rescue. “I called her urgently to at least bring us toilet paper and something to eat. »
Emails show that they were promised a “fully furnished” apartment including appliances, bedding, dishes, etc., at a cost of $600 per month. In the quarantine plan, the restaurant owner promises accommodation “where habitable conditions […] are created to ensure their isolation.”
Mr. Grussemer also deplores not having received his salary during this 14-day period, a government obligation at the time. The owner of the restaurant had also consented to this, according to official documents that were consulted The duty.
To save money, the couple had communicated their intention to go and live with M’s motherme Baumann after the quarantine period, which would have been refused to him by Mr. Lajoie. “I was able to go to my mother, but my partner was threatened so he wouldn’t leave. We forced him to stay there and pay for accommodation,” said Katy Baumann.
However, the law is clear: a worker cannot be forced to live in a place designated by the employer, with exceptions, particularly in the case of agricultural workers. Furthermore, Mr. Grussemer maintains that he never signed a lease.
Unauthorized payroll deductions
As soon as he gets to work, Jean-Philippe Grussemer works a minimum of 50-60 hours in the Pilsen kitchen. However, he receives no salary the first month, according to the details of the CNESST claim that The duty consulted.
Subsequently, Mr. Grussemer’s pay statements indicate that an “advance” sometimes amounting to more than $1,000 was deducted from his salary. However, the Labor Standards Act is clear: when a deduction is made, the nature must be specified and the employee must have consented to it.
However, this was not the case, alleges the couple. Even though no employment contract was provided. “My partner has never seen a contract or signed anything like that,” said M.me Baumann.
After asking his employer questions, Mr. Grussemer learned that these deductions were used in particular to reimburse the rent of the apartment he lived in and the amounts advanced to bring him to Canada with his partner. According to an invoice addressed to Pilsen that The duty was able to consult, a firm is claiming more than $6,000 in recruitment costs for the cook, including $5,000 in professional fees.
However, it is forbidden to pass on to workers the bill for their recruitment. “It’s illegal,” assured Krishna Gagné, immigration lawyer. The employee may, however, have to pay the fees for his medical examination, biometrics ($85), his work permit (around $150) and the “employee” portion — or $202 at the time — of the certificate of employment. acceptance of Quebec. “But legal costs and fees for preparing the LMIA [Étude d’impact sur le marché du travail] must be paid by the employer,” maintains Me Won.
Intimidation
After his wife filed a complaint with Immigration Canada, Mr. Grussemer was able to quickly obtain an open work permit for vulnerable people. This permit is granted to workers who have a closed work permit, linked to an employer, “and who are victims of violence or at risk of being, in the context of their employment in Canada […] ”, according to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations.
A month after taking up his position, Jean-Philippe Grussemer said he received threats from the restaurant owner. During a meeting between the two men and some witnesses, Patrick Lajoie informed his employee that he would not have pay for eight weeks in order to reimburse the costs for his partner’s papers, that the restaurant was not obliged to pay. “But if it doesn’t suit you, you can stop today, we can call Immigration, it stops there,” said the restaurateur in a conversation including The duty was able to listen to the recording.
A few weeks later, Mr. Lajoie submitted to Mr. Grussemer an acknowledgment of debt for an initial amount of approximately $11,000, which The duty was able to consult. Among certain costs that he is entitled to claim, he demands payment of Mr. Grussemer’s plane ticket, which he had nevertheless undertaken to pay, as evidenced by an employment contract submitted to the court by the restaurateur.
In response, the cook resigned. “We’re not looking for trouble. We fight because we hope that there will not be other people who go through what we went through,” said Katy Baumann.