Linda Alzate (real name withheld), a domestic worker in the US who cared for her then employers’ children on top of doing errands, cleaning the house and cooking, won a wage claim amounting to $827,000 (Php 43,299,652 approx.).
This amount is deemed the highest pure wage claim awarded to a domestic worker.
“The court’s judgement is a victory for Ms. Alzate, especially in the face of a vigorous opposition that did not concede any dime of wages that was owed to her,” said the law firm which represented the Filipina on trial in a press release.
“It was a testament to the courage of this Filipina to have pursued her claims all the way up to trial,” the law firm stated.
Alzate filed the case and sought to receive what was owed to her by her employers in salary. At that time, she was paid a fixed monthly rate regardless of how long she worked. Alzate said she was made to work 18 to 24 hours a day.
The Domestic Workers Bill of Rights states that domestic workers who worked long hours like Alzate and who are employed to take care of children and the elderly should be given overtime pay.
Alzate began working for Drs. Peter Sim and Lorraine Diego back in 2002. The Pinay worker took care of the couple’s two children who had been diagnosed with autism. Her hourly rate then was a meager $2 which is approximately a hundred pesos today.
Her last salary amounted to $3,000, just half of what she should have gotten based on salary standards during that year.
She was also not given a day off by her former employers.
