Australia court asks ex-India envoy to pay ₹74L to former help | India News

JALANDHAR: Australia’s federal court has asked a former Indian high commissioner to that country to pay AUD 1,36,000 (Rs 73.6 lakh) within 60 days to a former domestic help of Punjabi origin to compensate for unpaid wages and unfair working conditions, according to Australian media reports.
Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported that complainant Seema Sherghill arrived in the country in April 2015, and worked for her ex-employer Navdeep Suri at his Canberra home for a year before she fled his residence in May 2016 without taking any of her belongings.
“The federal court heard Sherghill worked seven days a week, for 17.5 hours per day. Her duties included cleaning the house, preparing meals and tidying the garden, and she was only let out of the house to walk Suri’s dog,” ABC said.
“She was initially paid the equivalent of about AUD 7.80 per day before she complained and Suri increased her rate to AUD 9 per day. In total, she received about AUD 3,400 for her 13 months of work.”
Sherghill had previously worked for Suri when he served as India’s ambassador to Egypt. But Australia was a different experience as she was solely responsible for the upkeep of the eight-bedroom house.
The woman was quoted as saying that Suri’s wife was very demanding, and she would be asked to undertake extra chores like making large batches of samosas or cleaning the silverware.