Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 20 Apr 2000

Vol. 518 No. 5

Written Answers. - National Minimum Wage.

Frances Fitzgerald

Question:

20 Ms Fitzgerald asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment when additional inspectors will be in place in her Department to police the National Minimum Wage Act, 2000; and if these inspectors will be employed on the basis of shift work to be able to monitor evening and night work places. [11981/00]

Enda Kenny

Question:

42 Mr. Kenny asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number of people receiving the minimum wage since 1 April 2000; if all employers have fulfilled their obligations; if her attention has been drawn to any job lay-offs as a result of the Act; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [11984/00]

Nora Owen

Question:

65 Mrs. Owen asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment when the additional inspectors will be in place in her Department to police the National Minimum Wage Act, 2000; and if these inspectors will be employed on the basis of shift work so as to be able to monitor evening or night shift work places. [12142/00]

Nora Owen

Question:

68 Mrs. Owen asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number of people in receipt of the minimum wage since 1 April 2000; whether all employers have fulfilled their obligation; if her attention has been drawn to any job lay-offs as a result and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12145/00]

Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Mr. T. Kitt)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 20, 42, 65 and 68 together.

The National Minimum Wage Act, 2000, became law on 1 April 2000. It applies, with some exceptions, to the generality of employees whether they be full-time, part-time, temporary or casual workers. The national minimum hourly rate of pay is £4.40, which sum must be paid, by way of a minimum hourly average rate of pay, to all experienced adult employees. Hourly rates of pay of lesser amounts than £4.40 may be paid to certain categories of employee as, for instance, to persons under the age of 18, to first time job entrants or to those engaged in training or study.

It is estimated – source: ESRI impact study on the National Minimum Wage that the number of employees who will materially benefit immediately from operation of the National Minimum Wage is 163,000. The average minimum hourly rate of pay must be paid to employees over specific reference periods which may be of durations of one week, a fortnight or a month. The choice of selection of the reference period to apply to any individual employee is a matter for that individual's employer to exercise. In view of the range of reference periods involved, the longest being of one month's duration, it is not possible at this early stage in the operation of the Act to say whether all employees who stand to gain from the NMW have in fact benefited from it as yet.

By Government decision of last December an additional seven inspectors were authorised for allocation to the labour inspectorate of my Department for purposes of enforcing the National Minimum Wage. Such allocation brings the numerical strength of the inspectorate to 17. The internal departmental process to select the additional inspectors was completed last month and the resulting appointments were finalised earlier this week. All 17 inspectors will be engaged in the National Minimum Wage enforcement activity and in the enforcement of employment legislation generally. In their conduct of this work they will have available to them wide ranging powers of inspection which are laid down in the National Minimum Wage Act itself and in a variety of other labour law statutes. The conditions of employment attaching to the position of labour inspector render the individual inspector liable for out of normal office hours work including night work. It is intended that some of the investigative-inspection duties to be performed by the inspectors in respect of both the NMW and other labour legislation will be carried out at night time.

The newly appointed inspectors are at present undergoing training in the various aspects of their duties and activities. A particular focus of that training is the National Minimum Wage related dimensions of their work. The established inspectors, too, are receiving National Minimum Wage related training. It is intended to implement, following completion of the initial training programme, a targeted enforcement exercise in respect of the National Minimum Wage: plans for this exercise are being prepared at the moment with a view to implementation in early course. In the meantime, however, the inspectors are, in the course of their normal inspection duties, checking on the compliance of employers with their responsibilities under the National Minimum Wage Act. Such checks, at this initial post-introduction phase of the operation of the Act, are designed primarily to educate employers in their new obligations and to render all possible assistance in sorting out misunderstandings and teething difficulties which arise in individual places of employment. Some minor irregularities have been detected but no cases of flagrant violations of the Act have yet been encountered.

The Act provides two alternative avenues for redress action for the resolution of disputes between employers and employees with regard to entitlements under the Act. One such avenue is via the Rights Commissioner Service; the alternative course is to request investigation of the dispute by an Inspector. No such request has been received to date.

I am not aware of any lay-offs resulting from the operation of the Act.