A CONSTRUCTION company in Sligo has been paying Polish employees between Euro5 and Euro6 per hour to build a luxury hotel and holiday homes complex, according to workers who spoke to the Sunday Tribune. The company has refuted the claims.

A number of current and former employees of Liam Scott Construction said they were paid Euro50 for a 10-hour day while working for the company in 2006. They claim their pay was increased to just under Euro6 per hour following a site visit by the Labour Inspectorate in late 2006.

Liam Scott, whose company is based in Dromore West, Co Sligo, with offices in Ballina, Co Mayo, told the Sunday Tribune that claims that his employees were paid Euro5 per hour were "rubbish".

"They were paid a lot more than that. They're on Euro13 an hour, with their benefits and all that taken into consideration, " he said. Scott said the "benefits" included free accommodation in apartments in Ballina or in mobile homes on the site, as well as the use of his fleet of vans, with free diesel provided.

Legislation requires that, where expenses are being subtracted from an employee's salary, deductions should be itemised on the employee's payslip.

The Polish employees of Liam Scott did not receive payslips.

"There's payslips here if they want them, " Scott said. Siptu has referred the company to the Labour Court, alleging breaches of the Payment of Wages Act, the Organisation of Working Time Act and the Terms of Employment Act. A hearing has not yet been scheduled.

Marcin Kryslak and Sebastian Tabaczka, who worked for Liam Scott for three months last year, said they were paid Euro300 per week for a 60-hour week painting and fitting floors and ceilings.

They said they paid for their own accommodation in an apartment in Ballina. Another former employee, Mariusz Kopczak, said he worked up to 78 hours per week for Euro450 during a fourmonth period from August to December 2006.

When the Sunday Tribune contacted Scott, he said he had receipts for new mobile homes purchased to house some of his employees on the site and had paid rent to private landlords in Ballina for the others. He said he had provided a fleet of vans for their use, with diesel from the site. He complained that his Polish employees generally "weren't carrying their own weight".

"If they were being paid as badly as that, why didn't they leave?" he asked.

Scott said he could provide evidence of proper rates of pay and of his expenditure on additional benefits, and requested a few days to prepare this. He did not, however, provide any further information.

A spokesperson for the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment said they could not comment on individual cases being investigated by the Labour Inspectorate.

She said there were currently over 1,000 cases under investigation.