Minimum wage rates return

Holiday Inn Worldwide is looking at introducing a minimum wage rate in the UK. A working party is to look at the issue and will report its conclusions in late spring.

A spokeswoman for the company said that any minimum rate would be introduced from October 1995, but precise details had yet to be decided.

News of Holiday Inn's move comes in the wake of the latest survey by consultants Industrial Relations Services (IRS) which shows that many big hospitality companies are continuing to set a minimum wage despite the abolition of Wages Councils in August 1993.

In its latest Pay and Benefits Bulletin, IRS reports that minimum hourly rates are used by at least 11 large organisations in the hospitality industry. These include Bass Taverns, De Vere Hotels, Friendly Hotels, Jarvis Hotels, Pizza Hut, Stakis, and Swallow Hotels.

Holiday Inn Worldwide is included in the list, although its £3 an hour rate is described as an "informal minimum".

Sister company Bass Taverns, the managed pub division, adopted a common £3.05 minimum rate for its 40,700 bar and catering staff effective from 15 January 1995. It had previously used the Wages Council statutory minimum.

Minimum rates paid by the other companies in the survey range from £2.72 an hour (for cleaners) to £3.45.