Irish pub pays ex-employer his last pay in 5c coins

Nearly 30 kilos of cash is the hefty sum of money that former Dublin restaurant worker Rian Keogh received when he collected his final salary.

On Tuesday 14 September, the young man shared on Twitter the astonishing story of his departure from Alfie's, an establishment in the centre of the Irish capital. After weeks of claiming the salary the company owed him for the two months he worked during the summer, Rian was surprised to finally receive a bucket containing his €355 in 5c coins.

A salary in coins

The 20-year-old Irishman wrote on the social network, captioning a picture showing the massive receptacle and its heavy contents:

If anyone wants to know what it was like to work at Alfie's on South William Street, after weeks of chasing my last salary I finally got it, but in a bucket of pennies.

The student's post was a hit on the social network, with just over 15,000 likes and hundreds of comments expressing outrage at his ex-boss' attitude. In an interview with Irish website Extra.ie, Rian noted that the bucket, which weighed approximately 30 kilos, left serious marks on his arms.

The employee not obliged to accept

The young man was supposed to receive his last pay cheque on 9 September, and needed the money 'as soon as possible' to pay his bills. He had previously agreed to wait until 14 September to receive his money.

Rian did not have to accept the degrading method of payment: as stipulated by the Irish Economic and Monetary Union Act 1998, employees have the right to refuse payment with more than 50 coins. The former employee regrets:

I thought I was legally required to take it, but I found out via Twitter that I wasn't. If I had known that, I would have fought.