Just one-in-five hotels and shops paying minimum rates

LESS than one-in-five hotels and grocery outlets is paying staff agreed minimum rates of pay, according to the National Employment Rights Authority (NERA).

Inspections by NERA officials in the hotel sector showed that just 18% were in compliance with official wage rates, while compliance rates in the grocery trade were little better at 19%.

Most other sectors which operate an agreed industry rate under Registered Employment Agreements and Employment Regulation Orders also recorded poor levels of paying their staff agreed wage rates.

The vast majority of other sectors examined by NERA inspectors – agriculture, catering, contract cleaning, security, construction and electrical – showed compliance rates of 50% or less.

In the first three months of 2010, NERA officials carried out inspections on 706 individual employers which uncovered staff being underpaid wages totalling €435,451.

Almost a third of the total money which was recouped was paid over by firms in the construction industry.

Most visits by NERA inspectors examine employers’ compliance with employment legislation. NERA revealed that 6% of employers inspected by its officials were failing to pay their staff the minimum wage. Over €50,000 in unpaid wages was recovered from 25 firms.

It also emerged that half of over 640 employers inspected were not in compliance with legislation governing holidays and rest periods.

NERA said 44 cases arising out of its inspections over the three-month period were referred for prosecution.

Last month SIPTU, the country’s largest trade union, launched an initiative to encourage the public to use hotels which offered agreed levels of pay and conditions to their staff.

SIPTU said it was launching the campaign over concern at the high rate of non-compliance by hotel owners to pay agreed industry rates to their staff.

More than 40 hotels have been recommended by the union in its “Fair Hotels” initiative.