filed under: Elizabeth Hurley

ELIZABETH Hurley and her husband, Arun Nayar, are multimillionaires many times over, but they're also accused of being skinflints - paying their Indian maid just $200 a week for endless hours of cooking, cleaning and baby-sitting, according to published reports.

Violet D'Souza, 31, accused the "Austin Powers" star and her spouse of forking over as little as $2.33 an hour for as many as 70 hours of work a week in the couple's fashionable Chelsea (London) home, Britain's Mirror and Daily Mail both reported. Adding insult to injury, they allegedly paid her in the Indian currency of rupees.

D'Souza was set to take her case to an employment tribunal today - but the hearing was canceled at the 11th hour late yesterday after the distressed domestic was offered a five-figure settlement, according to the newspapers.

Hurley's lawyer, Jake Bloom, had no comment for Page Six, and her agent, Allison Band, did not return our call.

The London reports say d'Souza worked up to seven days a week, with her chores starting at 7:30 a.m. and sometimes lasting until 3 the next morning, with Hurley and Nayar rewarding her with a weekly 8,000 rupees. The equivalent hourly rate worked out to between $2.72 and $3.10, but was sometimes as low as $2.33 if she worked lengthy hours. In Britain, the legal minimum wage is $10.71.

Hurley, 42, is believed to be worth $25 million from acting and modeling, while Nayar, 43, is an heir to a fabulously rich Indian textiles family in Mumbai. D'Souza is believed to have worked for the family before Nayar brought her to London in 2003. She brought an action of breach of contract after being dismissed by the couple last August.

A spokesman for Kingsway Tribunal Center, where the case was to be heard, said yesterday, "We can confirm that the claim has been withdrawn and the pre-hearing review has been canceled but cannot discuss the reasons."

Hurley, who wed Nayar last March, has a 5-year-old son by billionaire businessman Steve Bing named Damian, whose godparents include Elton John, Hugh Grant, Denis Leary, Victoria and David Beckham and the late Heath Ledger.

An insider fumed: "It's an outrage Liz made her son do this. He's not old enough to make that sort of decision.

"Imagine the teasing he could suffer at school. Why would any parent do this to their child?"

The bizarre image, showing Damian hiding behind giant sunglasses, featured on Liz's official website.

The source added: "Liz suggested Damian pose in the bikini. Other people were uncomfortable with it but she insisted."

"It was an amazing party. I sat beside Prince Andrew and Fergie . . . Sharon, Jack, Kelly and Ozzy Osbourne were there and so were Sting and Liz Hurley--who didn't wash her hands when she left the toilet!"