Compass in drive to stamp out unequal pay and conditions

01 October 2003 by
Compass in drive to stamp out unequal pay and conditions

Compass Group has joined forces with the main hospitality and leisure unions to call for an end to unequal pay and conditions in the public sector.

Last year the Government promised to end the two-tier labour market which allows public sector workers on outsourced contracts to receive poorer pay and conditions than their colleagues on the Government's payroll. But the implementation has been slow, and three million workers in health, education, the civil service, and the Ministry of Defence are potentially vulnerable to unequal treatment.

At the moment, private contractors have to honour the pay and conditions of staff they take on from a local authority. But if those workers leave, they can take on new employees at lower pay and inferior conditions, creating a two-tiered workforce. A T&G spokesman said: "It's an irony that Britain's biggest contractor is ahead of public policy on ending the shameful practice of paying new starters less."

All new Compass contracts will give new recruits the same pay and conditions as those who transfer, including an equivalent final-salary pension scheme.

Bob Cotton, chief executive of the British Hospitality Association, commented: "It's a commercial decision. Compass is taking the politics out of what should be a best-value decision - which operator can offer the best quality, productivity and efficiency. You don't want contracts to be awarded purely on a low-wage decision."

He added that it was "not accidental" Compass announced its agreement with the unions at a time when the public sector was under the spotlight at the Labour Party Conference. He expected other main contractors in the public sector to follow suit.

A spokesman for Sodexho said it was committed to removing the two-tier workforce. "All our new contracts are bid on the basis of a one-tier workforce and we're negotiating our current contracts where a two-tier workforce exists."

Meanwhile, the increase in the minimum wage announced earlier this year has now taken effect, benefiting between 1.3 milion and 1.6 million UK workers, the Government believes.

Last month the Inland Revenue released figures suggesting it had uncovered £3.5m of wages owed to employees under their minimum wage entitlement, but concerns remain that an underclass of illegal immigrant workers aren't seeing a penny of this, which in turn is undermining legitimate employers and employees.

"There's a number of recruitment agencies that supply staff at prices that when you calculate things such as national insurance and the minimum wage must be working on zero commission as charitable trusts," said Nicola Platt, managing director of recruiter Mayday Exec.

Although the Home Office has no figures for the number of illegal workers evading the system, it has highlighted the hospitality sector as one of a small group disproportionately affected.

As part of moves to deter those supplying illegal workers, the Home Office has a White Paper, Prevention of Illegal Working, passing through consultation with a closing date of 13 October. It contains proposals to reduce the number of documents that can be used to prove right-to-work in the UK. If adopted, it is also expected that higher fines will be imposed on those who ignore the new procedures and continue to use illegal workers.

The new minimum wage level is £4.50 for adults and £3.80 for the youth rate (18- to 21-year-olds).

Source: Caterer & Hotelkeeper magazine, 2 - 8 October 2003

The Caterer Breakfast Briefing Email

Start the working day with The Caterer’s free breakfast briefing email

Sign Up and manage your preferences below

Check mark icon
Thank you

You have successfully signed up for the Caterer Breakfast Briefing Email and will hear from us soon!

Jacobs Media is honoured to be the recipient of the 2020 Queen's Award for Enterprise.

The highest official awards for UK businesses since being established by royal warrant in 1965. Read more.

close

Ad Blocker detected

We have noticed you are using an adblocker and – although we support freedom of choice – we would like to ask you to enable ads on our site. They are an important revenue source which supports free access of our website's content, especially during the COVID-19 crisis.

trade tracker pixel tracking