Vol. 524 No. 1
25 Mr. Broughan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if she will make a statement on the progress to date in monitoring the implementation of the National Minimum Wage Act, 2000; the number of inspectors engaged in monitoring its implementation; the number of possible breaches reported to her Department; and the estimated number of job losses reported to her Department. [21553/00]
The National Minimum Wage Act, 2000, came into force on 1 April 2000 providing for, with cer tain limited exceptions, a minimum hourly average rate of pay of £4.40. Introduction of the Act was accompanied by an intensive nationwide advertising campaign embracing television, radio and print media. Helpline services were strengthened to assist inquirers in clarifying issues of concern and a detailed explanatory booklet together with a summary leaflet were distributed widely.
The legislation is enforced in the workplace by the labour inspectorate of my Department. There are 17 inspectors in the inspectorate, seven of whom were appointed last April by way of additional resources, authorised by Government decision of December 1999, to assist in NMW enforcement work. All 17 inspectors, as part of their general employment rights legislation enforcement work, check on the compliance of employers with their responsibilities under the National Minimum Wage Act.
From the commencement date of the Act to 30 September 2000 a total of 2,531 compliance inspections have been carried out by the inspectorate. These revealed infringements in the case of 193 employers which, in some cases, might involve several employees. The majority of infringements have tended to be of a rather minor nature and to be more the result of misunderstanding or misinterpretation of the provisions of the Act than of deliberate intention to defraud. Infringements found are normally rectified through the intervention of the visiting inspectors and, to date, the need for legal prosecution has not arisen.
Other than one particular case in which, in correspondence with my Department, an employer indicated that he had let go 30 staff owing to his inability to pay them the NMW, I am not aware of any redundancies arising specifically as a result of the operation of the NMW. In the period 1 April to 30 September 2000 the number of redundancies notified to my Department was 5,775. It is not possible to say if any of these are NMW-related.
The monitoring group established by the Tánaiste to monitor and assess the implementation of the NMW Act has commenced its work which will continue over the coming months. The group will be assisted in its work by the results of a follow-up survey to be undertaken by the ESRI later this year of the firm survey it carried out in late 1998-early 1999. The results of that initial firm survey formed part of the study, undertaken by the ESRI, of the likely impact of the introduction of the NMW.
Question No. 26 taken with Question No. 19.
