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Health workers hit by low pay tactics

Unison, the UK’s largest union, has called for the national minimum wage to be increased from £3.60 to £5 an hour with annual automatic increases, and for the £3 youth rate (for 18-21 year olds) to be abolished.

In a submission to the Low Pay Commission, the union has claimed that many employers have been using dubious methods to avoid paying the existing statutory rate of £3.60 an hour. Others have made the minimum rate a pay ceiling — cutting pay for their employees since the introduction of the National Minimum Wage.

Examples of employers’ unscrupulous attitudes submitted in the Unison evidence include:

• employees of a nursing home losing their 20p an hour weekend premium in return for having their wages brought up to £3.60, which left many worse off;
• bank holiday pay withdrawn to make up for the increase in basic pay;
• unpaid meal or rest breaks imposed or extended – even when staff are on-call;
• revised work rotas for residential home staff – reducing the number of staff and spreading the same amount of work over fewer people.

Separate research by Unison in Northern Ireland shows that some employers have brought in young workers to replace older workers in some jobs, and people have been sacked at the age of 21 so employers can avoid paying the full rate.

Unison general secretary Rodney Bickerstaffe said: ‘The minimum wage has helped a lot of people. But it could have helped millions more had it been set at a higher rate.’

A recent survey by the Confederation of British Industry has shown that employers think the minimum wage has been set at a ‘prudent’ level and that 85 per cent of businesses feel that the minimum wage has made ‘no impact’ on their overall profitability.

Shadow home secretary Ann Widdicombe said that if businesses were happy to keep the minimum wage and it was not proving a ‘burden on employers’ the Tory Party would drop its opposition to the scheme.