asked the Minister for Labour the number of inspections carried out by officials of his Department under the terms of the Hotels and Restaurants Joint Labour Committees in relation to the payment of the prescribed wages and conditions of workers covered by these committees; the number of prosecutions, if any, which took place as a result; if he will publish details of such breaches including the names and titles of establishments involved; if he is satisfied that agreed wages and conditions are being paid and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Written Answers. - Inspections of Hotels and Catering Premises.
435.
The numbers of inspections carried out by officials of my Department under the terms of the Hotels and Catering Joint Labour Committee Orders in 1983, 1984 and 1985 are as follows:
|
Hotels |
Catering |
|
|
1983 |
1,057 |
1,617 |
|
1984 |
838 |
1,453 |
|
1985 |
676 |
1,227 |
|
(Provisional) |
(Provisional) |
There were two prosecutions in 1983 and two in 1984. There were no prosecutions in 1985. Details of the cases in 1983 and 1984 are as follows:
Prosecutions
|
1983 |
||
|
Catering |
Employer refused to produce wage records.Employer prevented employees being interviewed by Inspector. |
Defendant pleaded guilty and Probation Act applied. |
|
Hotel |
Employer failed to pay holiday money. |
Fined £10 with order to pay holiday money due. |
|
1984 |
||
|
Catering |
Employer underpaid 3 employees. Inadequate wage records kept by employer. Wages notice (poster) not on display. |
Employer fined £75 for underpayments and ordered to pay arrears of wages to the 3 employees and £32 expenses. |
|
Catering |
Employer underpaid 3 employees. No wages records kept by employer. Poster not on display. |
Employer fined £50 for underpayments and £20 for not keeping wages records and ordered to pay arrears within 7 days. |
It is not the policy of my Department to publish the names and addresses of employers against whom proceedings are taken.
Premises covered by Joint Labour Committee Orders are inspected regularly by inspectors of my Department. Where breaches of Joint Labour Committee Orders are detected by inspectors in the course of those inspections, the employer concerned is first made aware of his responsibilities and asked to comply. This results in full compliance in the great majority of cases. Where compliance is not forthcoming, the question of instituting legal proceedings is put forward for consideration by the Department's legal advisers. A problem which can arise, particularly in the hotel and catering industries, is that employees are not willing to make statements and give evidence necessary for a successful prosecution and this is a factor which must obviously be taken into account when the question of instituting proceedings is being considered in individual cases.