PRESS RELEASE 1 April 2000

Two cheers for the National Minimum Wage

The Low Pay Unit today gave the Government two cheers on the first anniversary of the National Minimum Wage.

The minimum wage raised the pay of over one and a half million workers. Hairdressers, bar staff and waitress benefited the most, seeing their pay increase by between 9 and 12%. Since women do the bulk of low paid work, they benefited more than men, contributing to the largest narrowing of the pay gap for a decade.

The Unit has received hundreds of calls over the year from low paid workers seeking to enforce their right to the minimum wage. Examples include:

• Mrs C, an assistant in a sweet shop in County Durham, who was earning £2 per hour prior to the minimum wage. After its introduction, she got a £1.60 per hour pay rise;
• Mrs M, a night porter for 10 years in a hotel in Richmond, Surrey, received a pay rise from £2.39 to £3.60;
• Mrs E, a homeworker contracted to work from 5.30pm to 8.30am Monday to Sunday, who was paid just 95 pence per hour. She received more than £2000 back pay following action by the Revenue and the Low Pay Unit.

Aside from obvious objections to the £3.60 level which fails to provide a living wage, there are some difficulties with the legislation:

• care workers, who are required to sleep on their employers' premises are paid nothing for this personal disruption or the disruption of being woken several times during the night. They are only entitled to be paid the minimum wage when they "are awake for the purposes of working";
• the procedures used for calculating the pieceworkers is very complicated and the system is open to abuse. For example, Mrs W, a pieceworker, told the Unit she is paid £3.70 a day to pack cards;
• workers aged 18 to 21 are entitled only to the reduced rate of £3 per hour. even when they are doing the same job as an older worker.

Commenting, Director Bharti Patel said:
"The Government should celebrate the first anniversary of this popular measure by increasing the rate substantially, and linking future rises to average pay. When this happens, it might be time for low paid workers to give the Government a third cheer."

For further information, contact Bharti Patel on 020 7713 7616