Elderly housekeeper paid £1.41 an hour and made to sleep in cellar wins huge payout from boss

Tribunal heard woman was vulnerable and had nowhere else to live while working at hotel

An elderly woman housekeeper was paid just £1.41 an hour by a hotel boss who made her sleep on a chair in a cold cellar.

Julie Miles, 69, was refused holidays for three years and worked a 60 hour week in return for her accommodation at the Great Western Hotel in Abergavenny, South Wales.

Ms Miles took her case against Gary Hesp, her employer, to a tribunal and won more than £50,000 in compensation.

The tribunal heard that Ms Miles was vulnerable and had nowhere else to live.

The relationship between the housekeeper and her employers was "master and servant" with Ms Miles having to cater to Mr Hesp's every "beck and call" 24 hours a day, the tribunal found.

He was even said to have told her: "You worked last year without a day off - you can do it again."

And the 67-year-old married manager also sexually harassed the pensioner by sliding his arm around her waist on three separate occasions.

Mrs Miles felt unable to complain out of fear of being fired.

The hearing in Cardiff was told Ms Miles began working at the £70 a night hotel - owned by Mr Hesp and his wife Loraine (Corr) - at the end of 2014 and as part of her role had to clean almost the entire property on her own.

On a daily basis, she had to strip beds, wash, dry and iron the bed linen, make the beds with fresh sheets, clean rooms, hoover and mop and clean the toilets in the bar.

The hearing was told Mr Hesp knew Ms Miles was in a vulnerable position because of her financial difficulties and he "exploited" her circumstances.

He had a full time job as a bathroom salesman in Devon and Cornwall and used her to keep the hotel running in his absence, the tribunal heard.

For on average 60 hour weeks, Ms Miles was paid between £84 and £99 which means she was paid below the national minimum wage throughout the three years and five months that she worked at the hotel.

In 2016 to 2017, the national minimum wage was £7.20 an hour and Ms Miles hourly wage was around £1.41, the tribunal found.

Her pay was so low because Mr Hesp deducted £80 a week for accommodation, but for over a year she was only provided with a chair in a cold laundry room in the cellar.

And Ms Miles was not given a single day of holiday by her boss, the hearing was told.

Mr Hesp reportedly said to her: "We can't spare you. You worked last year without a day off - you can do it again."

The tribunal heard Ms Miles initially slept in a shared mixed dormitory when she started working at the hotel in 2015. But when that was let out, for over a year she slept in a chair in a cold laundry room in the cellar.

The tribunal found Mr Hesp "exploited" his employee's financial situation.

Employment Judge Laura Jane Howden-Evans said: "From December 2014 onwards, the relationship that existed between (Ms Miles) and (her employers) was one of master and servant.

"It was only by (her) complying with (their) every instruction, completing work quickly, turning her hand to whatever was necessary to get the rooms ready and more importantly by being at Mr Hesp's beck and call around the clock, that Mr Hesp was able to keep the hotel ticking over whilst working fulltime in Devon and Cornwall.

At all times during her employment with Mr Hesp, Ms Miles was in a vulnerable position because of her financial difficulties and not having a home, the tribunal concluded.

"We found Mr Hesp exploited Mrs Miles' circumstances," the judgement said.

And Mr Hesp was also found to have sexually harassed Ms Miles on three occasions by sliding his arm around her waist.

On each occasion, Ms Miles stepped away to indicate she was not consenting to his inappropriate touching.

But the tribunal heard she felt powerless to say or do anything other than ignore the touching and pretend it did not happen.

The tribunal said: "Mrs Miles perceived herself as being an older woman in a vulnerable situation and as such she felt demeaned by Mr Hesp's unwanted conduct of a sexual nature.

"She felt trapped in a difficult situation as there was no one to complain to as her bosses were Mr Hesp and his wife and she believed that if she complained she would be ousted from the hotel and would have nowhere to live."

Ms Miles resigned from her job in May 2018.

In her resignation later she said: "The unreasonable working conditions, scant help, long daily hours covering several departments, no day off or minimum wage for three years do not augur well for my future at the Great Western Hotel."

In total, Ms Miles won £55,194 for unauthorised deductions to her wages, compensation for unfair dismissal, money for holiday not taken and compensation for injury to feelings as a result of the sexual harassment.

Additional reporting by agencies