24. júní 2026

Major Victory in One of the Wok On Cases at the Court of Appeal

Dagsetning

24. júní 2026

deila

A highly significant victory was secured at the Court of Appeal yesterday when the court ruled in favour of a man who had worked at Vietnam Restaurant before the company was declared bankrupt. Among other things, the court recognised that his wage claim should include overtime pay, thereby overturning the Reykjavík District Court's earlier ruling on that issue. The judgment is of enormous importance, not only for the claimant himself, but also for nearly forty other former employees, including members of Efling, whose cases are still awaiting resolution.


Vietnam Restaurant was owned by restaurateur Quang Lé. Companies owned by Lé were declared bankrupt one after another during 2024. Collectively, these cases have commonly become known as the Wok On cases, after Wok On, Lé's largest restaurant chain.


Suspected Human Trafficking and Other Offences


WOKON, the operating company behind Wok On, was declared bankrupt on 12 June 2024. Prior to that, the Icelandic police had carried out extensive operations targeting companies owned by Quang Lé, who was suspected of human trafficking, money laundering, violations of foreign workers' labour rights, and organised criminal activity. At the time, Quang  Lé owned a total of eight companies, either operating restaurants or holding real estate.


Vietnam Restaurant itself was declared bankrupt on 12 September 2024, and the case decided by the Court of Appeal yesterday stems from that bankruptcy.


Cheated Out of Overtime Pay


Before the court, the claimant sought recognition of unpaid wages owed by the bankruptcy estate, including both ordinary wages and overtime pay, as well as accrued holiday pay. The bankruptcy trustee had already accepted the claim relating to ordinary wages, but disputed the overtime claim, which amounted to just under ISK 15 million.


The claim was based on the fact that, from the outset of his employment contract in February 2022, the claimant had consistently worked far more hours than he had been paid for. He typically worked twelve hours a day, six days a week.


During the proceedings, it was pointed out that, under Icelandic law, employers are responsible for maintaining accurate records of employees' overtime. Vietnam Restaurant had failed to do so. The bankruptcy trustee nevertheless argued that it was for the former employee to prove that he had worked the overtime in question.


Co-workers' Testimony Proved Decisive


As no time records or other documentation of working hours were available, the claimant called numerous former employees of Vietnam Restaurant as witnesses. They testified that both the claimant and the other staff members had routinely worked twelve-hour days, six days a week. Their testimony was consistent with statements they had previously given to the police, while the restaurant's opening hours further supported their accounts.


In its judgment, the Court of Appeal held that, because Vietnam Restaurant had failed to establish the legally required system for recording employees' working hours, it was the employer's responsibility, and therefore that of the bankruptcy trustee, to rebut the employees' account of their working hours. The bankruptcy estate had failed to do so.


Nearly ISK 20 Million Recognised as Priority Claims


The Court of Appeal therefore upheld the claimant's assertion that he had worked substantial overtime, ruling that the overtime claim should be recognised as a priority wage claim against the bankruptcy estate. The overtime award amounted to just over ISK 14 million. The court also upheld the claimant's claims for ordinary wages and accrued holiday pay.


In total, the Court of Appeal ruled that claims amounting to just under ISK 19.9 million should be recognised as priority wage claims in the bankruptcy proceedings of Vietnam Restaurant.


The deadline for seeking permission to appeal the case to the Supreme Court is two weeks, although it remains unclear whether any further appeal will be pursued.


Wage Theft Must Have Consequences


As noted above, the outcome of this case is of tremendous importance for a large number of people, not only those who worked at Vietnam Restaurant, but also former employees of Quang Lé's other companies, where similar employment practices appear to have been widespread. Employees were allegedly required to work excessive hours, given very little time off, and denied the wages to which they were legally entitled.


Similar claims have been submitted on behalf of former employees in all of Quang Lé's bankrupt companies. In most cases, however, the bankruptcy trustees have rejected those claims on the grounds that no records exist documenting the unpaid overtime. The Court of Appeal's judgment is expected to set an important precedent and should lead the bankruptcy estates to recognise the former employees' legitimate claims.


Efling is very pleased with this major victory for justice at the Court of Appeal. Wage theft is unacceptable and must have consequences, including in bankruptcy proceedings.

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Free tickets to Grýbos album release concert for Efling members

Eftir Freyr Efling • 21. september 2026
Efling members can get free tickets to the album release concert of the band Grýbos at Tjarnarbíó on September 24. Tickets are free of charge and can be picked up at the reception desk at Efling Union’s office at Guðrúnartún 1, 3rd floor. There are only 25 tickets available, so members are encouraged to act quickly. Tickets are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Each Efling member can receive two tickets while supplies last. The concert is held to celebrate the release of the album Kemur í ljós. Grýbos is a musical project by brothers Alexander and Jakob Grybos, joined by Hlynur Sævarsson on bass, Magnús Már Newman on drums, and Guðjón Steinn on various instruments.  The concert starts at 8:00 p.m.

Miðar á útgáfutónleika Grýbos í boði fyrir Eflingarfélaga

Eftir Freyr Efling • 21. september 2026
Eflingarfélögum bjóðast miðar á útgáfutónleika hljómsveitarinnar Grýbos í Tjarnarbíói 24. september næstkomandi. Miðarnir eru án endurgjalds og sækja þarf þá í afgreiðslu skrifstofu Eflingar stéttarfélags í Guðrúnartúni 1, 3. hæð. Miðarnir eru aðeins 25 talsins og því um að gera að hafa hraðar hendur. Fyrstur kemur, fyrstur fær. Hver Eflingarfélagi getur fengið tvo miða á meðan birgðir endast. Tónleikarnir eru, sem fyrr segir, útgáfutónleikar sem haldnir eru í tilefni af útgáfu plötunnar Kemur í ljós. Grýbos er tónlistarverkefni bræðranna Alexanders og Jakobs Grybos en með þeim spila Hlynur Sævarsson á bassa, Magnús Már Newman á trommur og Guðjón Steinn á hin ýmsu hljóðfæri.  Tónleikarnir hefjast klukkan 20:00.

Professional development in the spotlight at Nordic security guards’ conference

Eftir Freyr Efling • 18. september 2026
A delegation from Efling participated in a Nordic conference of security guard unions in Korpilampi in Finland during September 14-17. The conference brought together members, union reps, staff, and leadership of the unions, all of which are members of the federation SUN. Sectoral conferences of this kind are held every other year and the member unions take turns hosting them. The program began on Monday afternoon with inauguration and so-called country reports, where representatives from each union went over the state of affairs in the economy, bargaining, and politics in their home countries. On Tuesday, the program began with a presentation on a detailed comparison of security guards’ collective agreements in the Nordics. Most of the work going into the comparison was undertaken by Efling, with the presentation delivered by Efling staff member Eleonora Maximciuc. On the same day, technological developments in the guard sector, including AI, were discussed, and three scholars from the Nordics gave presentations on research relevant to the sector. Viðar Þorsteinsson, director of education and membership affairs, lead a panel discussion with the presenters. The Wednesday program began with a presentation from Adam Fishwick, adjunct professor at the University of Iceland, where he showcased his research on union renewal. His research project focuses on Efling Union. After that, Mark Bergfeld from UNI Europa gave a talk via videolink on work being undertaken at the European level to protect guards’ rights. In the afternoon, participants went on a sightseeing trip to the historic Sveaborg – Suomenlinna fortress just outside Helsinki. The final topic of the conference, on Thursday morning, was the organization of security guard training and certification in the Nordics, with each union giving a detailed presentation on the requirements of the respective country regarding the profession’s vocational training. Viðar Þorsteinsson and Sigrún Björg Guðmundsdóttir, vocational training officer at Efling, delivered a presentation on Efling’s behalf and participated in discussions. In the conference’s discussion of vocational training, it came clearly to light how far ahead of Iceland the other Nordic countries are in this area when it comes to the security guard professions. All the Nordic countries except Iceland make demands to security guards for certain training and education, which are generally found in legislation. Furthermore, the parties to the labor market have worked closely together on developing course curriculums and training certificates. Sweden is among the leaders, where the union Transport has along with the employers’ federation set up a major institute, BYA, which handles all vocational training matters and other professional matters of the sector. Multiple opportunities were created for communication and networking during breaks, common meals, and other informal shared time. It is no exaggeration to say that Efling staff and leadership returned home from the conference with rich resources in the form of knowledge, connections, and useful information about existing models when it comes to professional development in the guard sector. The next task for the union is to build on this work in dialogue with guards themselves, their companies, training providers, and the government. The Efling delegation at the conference was comprised of the following individuals: Atli Antonsson, project manager in membership affairs Eleonora Maximciuc, advisor in labor rights Sigrún Björg Guðmundsdóttir, vocational training officer Viðar Þorsteinsson, director of education and membership affairs Þórir Jóhannesson, vice chairman of Efling and union rep of dockworkers at Samskip  The unions represented at the conference, in addition to Efling, were the following: Norsk arbeidsmandsforbund (NAF) from Norway. NAF also represents cleaners, and Efling has collaborated with the union’s cleaning division at SUN level VSL from Denmark. VSL only bargains for security guards, and is the only dedicated security guard union in the Nordics. PAM from Finland. As with NAF, PAM negotiates also for cleaners and is a member of the SUN cleaning branch. Transportarbetareforbundet from Sweden, commonly referenced as Transport. The union makes collective agreements for truck drivers, dockworkers, and other professions in the transportation field.
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