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.

In the contract cleaning sector, 90% of the businesses were not obeying the agreements, in the hotels sector 79% were found to be in breach and in the retail, grocery and allied trade sector the figure is 69%.

Overall in the first nine months of this year, the employment rights authority interviewed or inspected 22,674 companies, detecting breaches in 16% of cases.

Arrears in pay valued at €1,773 million were recovered for employees.

The main area where companies were found to be in breach were in relation to the Organisation of Working Time Act where staff were not being given the proper rest, maximum working time or holidays.

The authority found 45% of companies inspected in that area were in breach of the legislation.

In relation to the national minimum wage, NERA inspected 2,612 firms and found 8% were in breach. It recovered €215,897 in arrears from those employers.

The authority has also been active in the courts. So far this year, 62 cases have been referred to the Chief State Solicitor’s Office for prosecution, with 72 cases brought to a conclusion.

Meanwhile, the authority is continuing a concerted campaign in the catering sector where it has so far made 860 calls, interviews and inspections.

It had found a 76% incidence of non-compliance with a total of €241,667 owed to employees.

The most common breach was a failure to pay either or both the statutory minimum hourly rate or the appropriate hourly rate.