1,000 firms breach wage agreements

THE National Employment Rights Authority detected more than 1,000 companies not paying staff their entitlements under legally binding wage deals in the first nine months of this year.

In the year to September, the authority inspected 1,545 firms that are subject to either Employment Regulation Orders or Registered Employment Agreements which govern minimum rates of pay and other conditions of employment.

It found two thirds were in breach of either agreement. Some industries were found to be much worse than others.