Sikh Priest Given £62K Settlement

[Pyara]

http://www.thisiskent.co.uk/Sikh-priest-given-pound-62k-settlement/story-13753759-detail/story.html

Sikh priest given £62k settlement

A GRANDFATHER who claims he was paid 78p an hour – an eighth of the minimum wage – has been given £62,000 by his former employers in an out-of-court settlement.

Gurpal Singh Virdi, 66, of Clover Street in Chatham, says he was forbidden from leaving the Siri Guru Nanak Gurdwara Temple in Byron Road, Gillingham and often worked 17-hour days during his 15 years as a Granthi (Sikh priest).

The father of three, a decorated soldier, claimed he was unfairly dismissed after he refused to take a pay cut in August 2008.

Mr Virdi's case was due to be heard at Ashford Employment Tribunal on October 10, but the temple's trustees agreed to pay him £62,000 to settle, making no admission of liability.

Temple bosses have strongly denied all the claims, saying they do not treat priests as "slaves", and that Mr Virdi received free accommodation, food, gas and electricity on top of his salary.

Mr Virdi told the News: "At no time was I allowed to leave the temple without permission. If I wanted to visit anyone, I wasn't allowed without the temple committee's permission.

He added: "I've begged and borrowed from everyone, all my friends, to pay for the solicitors' fees."

When Mr Virdi first joined the temple, he was paid £50 a week.

He and his wife Gurpax, 61, lived rent-free in a flat above the temple, and were given food.

Mr Virdi claimed his bosses deducted National Insurance contributions from his pay, despite it being below the required threshold, leaving him with little money to buy extra food, clothes and essentials.

The father of three, originally from Punjab, alleges that on his return from holiday in August, 2008, he was ordered by temple bosses to sign a new contract that would drop his pay from £405 to £350 per month, and put him on a three-month probation. He refused and was later dismissed.

In a previous case in 2009, Mr Virdi was paid more than £4,000 by the temple after claiming backdated salary.

Committee chairman Julhar Singh Chohan said: "We respect priests, we don't use them as slaves."

He said at least two Granthis had been employed during Mr Virdi's tenure, and that they shared the hours between them.

It had been "impossible" that Mr Virdi had worked 17 hours a day, he said.

The committee pointed out that Mr Virdi got free accommodation, free food, and amenities which, counted together, took his pay above the national minimum wage.

The committee admitted forbidding Mr Virdi from leaving the temple overnight without permission as he was living on-site and members were concerned about security.

A spokesman for the temple's trustees said: "There was a dispute between the Gurdwara and Mr Virdi, which was subject to employment tribunal proceedings. They were settled without admission of liability on the part of the Gurdwara, in order to bring the matter to a conclusion and to allow both parties to move on."

The UK national minimum wage has gone from £3.60 to £6.08 per hour for over-21s since it was introduced in 2000.

[samosasingh]

Don't you find that our gurdwara are no longer places for recharging your inner soul and learning divinde knowledge but more of a business. Ragis, granthees, etc who for the most part (9.9 out of 10) are happy with status qou are don't want to really teach anything or learn anything andfor the most part don't really have any knowledge (dollar store pindus). The we have the commitees who are only after self praise and being in power, again no vision, no sense of direction.........or maybe my standards are too high???

[West London Singh]

.78 pennies an hour and they asked him to take a pay cut ? :omg: Thats taking the michael.

I suggest the Gurdwara now take a leaf out of the giani's book and sue him for backdated rent on the 1 bedroom flat. Average monthly rent in that part of the world has got to be about £800 per month. He was living the flat for 15 years. So the way I see it he owes the Gurdwara the grand sum of £144,000.

[raja]

Goes to show that gyanis consider it an occupation rather then sewa.

[ks55]

serves the committee pratts right -- perfect bravo to the gynaii--

[Jonny101]

Goes to show that gyanis consider it an occupation rather then sewa.

While what you say is true, but you must also take into consideration that those Gianis have families to raise. I don't mind seeing Gianis getting paid, but they should be genuine Sikhs. Ideally what should be the case is that a Giani who does this as a profession should first and foremost have Sikhi in his heart. He should be a real rehetvaan Singh who should be a combination of a knowledgeable Giani plus a Bhagat who does a lot of Bhagti.

What I don't support is a Giani or Kirtani who is in it simply for the money and has no love for Sikhi. I have seen such examples of former kirtanis who once they get pakke in the west they even end up cutting their hairs.

[singh1986]

Erm I dont know whether people are aware of this but has anyone asked your local gyanis how much they are paid?

If this story gets out I suspect alot of gyanis will sue the Gurdwaray they work at!!

[Singh559]

Giani jis need to be paid accordingly so they can live and support a life. They shouldn't have to worry about maya, but they shouldn't be paid in donations like some people give to parcharaks.

[S1ngh]

If this story gets out I suspect alot of gyanis will sue the Gurdwaray they work at!!

Lol.. thats true, the granthi jee above just opened the flood gates...

I think what our community pay granthi singh around the world is just a pure joke and disgusting considering that majority of sikhs are good earners around the globe.

[Balait_da_Sher]

Coming from a family with granthis and having known a lot of granthis, let me tell you guys their side of the story.

Its not easy being a granthi. People dont respect them at all. They think because they give money to granthis, these men and their families are less than them. Kids of granthis get called giani and often grow up hating the profession. Yes its a profession/job now. It might not have been in Guru ji's days but a lot of religious work was voluntary then. But the granthis and raggis still got rewards from Guru jis.

Anyways, so its even worse when you are from India. People and committee members are always ready to use this against you. I know a 33 year old granthis who was "ASKED" by a committee member to clean up her garden. He worked all day and didnt get a single penny.

If as a granthi you forget to read one person's name in the ardasas or misread it then the family is all over you.

Committees run gurdwaras like a business. Lets talk about salary. Granthis, in UK dont get paid much. The weekly salary of the granthi usually is very low, even then they take the charawa from the granthi if he does kirtan. I have seen committee members change the kirtan schedule so that granthi will do kirtan at the end and people who will give the money back to the gurdwara or committee do the kirtan first. So that when the granthi does kirtan, no one is left to give any money. Some gurdwaras even tell people not to give any ardas.

The above is just very few examples of things I have seen. With this kind of attitude toward our granthis, its no surprise that they do not put much effort into their job and just go through the motions.

I fully support the above granthi who won the case. Its about time committees started treating guru ghar de sevak with respect they deserve.