Borderline house slave?

[Dazz]

I recently found out that my boss have a person working for him under slave-esqe conditions.

Some background information.
I live in the southern parts of Sweden and work as a technician for coffee brewing machines. My boss is of arabic heritage and speaks fluently Swedish and is a genuine good guy.
However i found out during a buisness party that (and this is what he himself told me) he got a Indian girl in mid 30's working for his parents in Sweden, nothing wrong with that. But the thing is that he said he found a website for a company in Asia that you pay and get a real human being sent to you that will work for you as long as you pay the company every month who then will pay the housekeeper and that you fix a place to stay for the person.

He told me that he pays like 5000kr which is like 500 EURO to this company and 200 goes to the worker. The reason according to him that the worker gets payed so low wages is that you pay for the workers living and food, but in reality she just lives in a guest-room from my understanding. The reason i havent already called the police and checked is that he told me that if the worker doesnt behave or they have any reason to be unhappy with her they can send her back to India and who knows what will happen to the girl then.

I walked in on my boss having a chat with this girl and she barely even spoke english and definetly not any Swedish and i am starting to feel abit uncomfortable with the situation.

Have anyone ever heard about something like this? My boss claims its totally legal but i really dont think so.. should i call the local authorities? If it turns out (and it most likely will) that this is highly illegal, should i rat him out? Its only us two in the company in this part of Sweden and if he would end up in jail or something i could never take over his duty and will most likely lose my job.



Thoughts? I felt really sad for the girl..

[Cybran]

Domestic worker exploitation is very common in Europe.

[Deleted]

Nothing you can do, if they send her back to India they may get angry with her then send her elsewhere, watch this episode of MASH to get an idea...

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0638447/

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Domestic worker exploitation in every part of the world

Fixed that for you, don't want you to appear biased.

[Jeleh]

It's a shitty situation, and the girl is definitely being taken advantage of. Before you go reporting your boss however, is the girl being harmed or abused in anyway? Would her life be better off if she was removed from the position she is currently in?

Honestly I think it's crap, but i would confidently say that shes probably safer and better off working as a live in maid/carer than she would be back home legal or not more so given how you described your boss.

[King Shark]

http://www.polarisproject.org/what-w...e/report-a-tip

[Deleted]

Evil Option: Blackmail your boss would be an option but if you don't produce evidence he will get rid of her and sack you.

Niceguy Approach: Would be hard to communicate with her that she needs to lie to authoritys to get recogniced as an asylum seeker.

Lawful Neutral: Give the Police a anonymous call.

Egoist: Ignore it

[Deleted]

I would step back a bit and assess the situation. For her, those 200 euros, even though it's dirt cheap, is something. SHe is there to earn some money, while your boss to save some. For now, do not say anything. If the authorities get involved, tell them you didn't know much about it, as you might get in jail for being an acomplice to this crime.

[slime]

Sounds like she has a job when she otherwise wouldn't.

[Deatheryn]

Wow that's crazy! Sounds like an indentured servant, but masquerading as maid. Although it sounds terrible to you, she may be in a much better situation now than previously. She could be making much more money for her family than ever in her country of origin.
What I'm saying is that you don't know the whole situation, it sounds terrible but may in fact be much better than where she was working/living before.

[Dazz]

I would step back a bit and assess the situation. For her, those 200 euros, even though it's dirt cheap, is something. SHe is there to earn some money, while your boss to save some. For now, do not say anything. If the authorities get involved, tell them you didn't know much about it, as you might get in jail for being an acomplice to this crime.

Thats the part that i am not so sure about.. If it was her choice, would a company send her half way across the globe? 200 euros cant be that hard to earn even in India.. i donno but its such a small amount of money.

[Deatheryn]

Thats the part that i am not so sure about.. If it was her choice, would a company send her half way across the globe? 200 euros cant be that hard to earn even in India.. i donno but its such a small amount of money.

Do you know how poor ppl are on India right now, if your now in the tech field you're lucky to have a job.

[Deleted]

Thats the part that i am not so sure about.. If it was her choice, would a company send her half way across the globe? 200 euros cant be that hard to earn even in India.. i donno but its such a small amount of money.

A qualified software engineer would get about 4k Euros in india, so 200 a month for an unqualified house maid is excellent pay if she is sending most of it back home.

[gamingmuscle]

200 sounds low...but if you add in the cost of room and food it would go to what 500-600/month. Is she allowed to quit?

[Requiem4aDr3am]

reminds me a lot of indentured servitude in old england and colonial america although she is at least getting paid a little something on top of having free room and board. It sounds like she is being exploited, but at the same time it sounds like she is a willing participant.

[Deleted]

If i made shitload of money (2.5k eur month+) i'd ask, where can i get one myself.
I always wondered if i can legaly "adopt" african kid, to help with "housework".
You know feeding him and giving him bed.

[Deleted]

If i made shitload of money (2.5k eur month+) i'd ask, where can i get one myself.

Sure just go back in your hugbox little pony-,-
Dont buy a personal slave its evil.

[Arwald]

If i made shitload of money (2.5k eur month+) i'd ask, where can i get one myself.
I always wondered if i can legaly "adopt" african kid, to help with "housework".
You know feeding him and giving him bed.

2.5k euro is a shitload for you? damn

As for the OP, 200€ is quiete a lot of money in India. The average cabby makes not even 1/20th of that. Sure from our point of view 200€ is next to nothing, but she probably has a family in India who is well taken care of by the money she earns in europe.

As for the "personal slave" talk, does he rape her, beat her, force her to work for him? She is working, you might not agree about her wage but that does not make her a slave.

[Deleted]

2.5k euro is a shitload for you? damn

As for the OP, 200€ is quiete a lot of money in India. The average cabby makes not even 1/20th of that. Sure from our point of view 200€ is next to nothing, but she probably has a family in India who is well taken care of by the money she earns in europe.

As for the "personal slave" talk, does he rape her, beat her, force her to work for him? She is working, you might not agree about her wage but that does not make her a slave.

Nah that the trafficker get the mainshare of the pie makes her a slave-like.

[Bakis]

Call the union and follow their advice, they know the law regarding pay, housing, visas etc.
Best advice I can give you if you suspect foul play.

[Natiry427]

I just find it funny that you had to mention the bosses heritage. What does that have to do with anything?