Vol. 539 No. 1
88 Mr. Rabbitte asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if her attention has been drawn to reports that a contract cleaning firm working at a factory (details supplied) in County Tipperary is paying Romanian and Polish workers at a rate below the national minimum wage; if she has investigated such reports; the action she intends to take in this regard; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [18665/01]
An officer from the labour inspectorate of my Department has visited this company and, following an examination of records, has not found evidence of payments falling below the national minimum rate of pay. From the material available the Inspector found that, up to 1 April 2001, the lowest hourly rate of pay was £4.40 and from that date the rate of pay was increased to £5.00 per hour.
In addition, the inspector has determined from the records examined, that double time is paid for Sundays and public bank holidays. A Saturday allowance, as well as an early shift allowance and a late shift allowance, is also paid. There was no evidence to suggest that rates of pay are differentiated between nationals and non-nationals working for this company.
The inspector has, however, determined that the rates of pay being applied are not in line with the terms of the current employment regulation order which applies to workers in that sector. As a consequence, certain arrears are likely to be due to all employees affected. This matter is being actively attended to by the company and the inspector will be following up in this regard very shortly. The employment regulation order mentioned above is new to the sector concerned and only came into effect from 1 April 2001. The employer in this case has indicated that the company was unaware of its recent introduction and, with regard to pay, had been adhering to the terms of the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness as a guide to pay determination.
Apart from the arrears situation already mentioned, the Inspector has sought clarification in respect of certain deductions from wages and is also examining the company's practices in regard to holiday entitlements and the provision of contracts of employment to staff.
