{"id":9965,"date":"2016-09-23T15:45:38","date_gmt":"2016-09-23T14:45:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=9965"},"modified":"2016-09-25T17:14:25","modified_gmt":"2016-09-25T16:14:25","slug":"the-great-pretender-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=9965","title":{"rendered":"The ‘great pretender’"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Last month, the government celebrated that it had \u00e2\u20ac\u0098named and shamed\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 200 companies for failure to pay the minimum wage \u00e2\u20ac\u201c the largest number of companies since the \u00e2\u20ac\u0098naughty list\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 scheme was first introduced three years ago.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt is not acceptable that some employers fail to pay at least the minimum wage their workers are entitled to,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 said business minister Margot James at the time.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bSo we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll continue to crack down on those who ignore the law, including by naming and shaming them.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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But in shocking revelations<\/a> by the Independent<\/em> (September 22), it has been discovered that this so-called \u00e2\u20ac\u0098crack down\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 may be nothing more than slap on the wrist \u00e2\u20ac\u201c since the \u00e2\u20ac\u0098name and shame\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 scheme was introduced in 2013, the government allowed 28 companies that had been violating the law to be exempt from the list of employers paying less than the minimum wage.<\/p>\n

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The department for business, energy and industrial strategy (BEIS) released a document noting that there were \u00e2\u20ac\u015bexceptional circumstances for not being named under the scheme\u00e2\u20ac\u0165.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

These circumstances can be related to national security or if naming \u00e2\u20ac\u015bcarries a risk of personal harm to an individual or their family\u00e2\u20ac\u0165.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

After a Freedom of Information request from the Independent<\/em>, it was revealed that all but six of the 28 companies were exempted from the list because they claimed to the government that they risked being personally harmed.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The remaining six companies won an exemption because \u00e2\u20ac\u015bother factors suggested it would not be in the public interest to name the company\u00e2\u20ac\u0165.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Beyond merely keeping these companies\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 names under wraps, the BEIS refused to even discuss what sort of evidence a company would have to produce to claim an exemption.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

When it was first revealed<\/a> that some companies could be exempt from being put on the list in May if they proved they would be attacked, then-Labour trade spokesperson Kevin Brennan called it \u00e2\u20ac\u015ban extraordinary excuse\u00e2\u20ac\u0165.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Special treatment <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

“Why are these employers who fail to pay the legal minimum wage given special treatment when others who break the law are not?\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he asked.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe public should be told who these firms are – until that is done there will inevitably be concerns about why the government names some and not others.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Business minister Nick Boles noted earlier this year that many employers had reached out to him to beg to stay off the list.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bHonourable members should see some of the letters I receive from employers trying to persuade me to exclude them from a naming and shaming round,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he told MPs in a Commons debate.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThey take it very seriously indeed, as they do not want their customers and suppliers \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and indeed their neighbours \u00e2\u20ac\u201c to know that they have broken the law.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unite assistant general secretary Steve Turner accused the government of rank hypocrisy.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bOnly last month, the government crowed incessantly about the hundreds of companies it had \u00e2\u20ac\u0098named and shamed\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 for non-payment of the minimum wage,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Lacking in transparency <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bAnd now we discover that actually there is a mechanism for companies to avoid being put on the list, one that is completely lacking in transparency,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Turner added. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThis, if anything, is a perfect reflection of the Tory government under prime minster Theresa May so far \u00e2\u20ac\u201c pretending to do something about social and economic injustice on the surface, but behind closed doors cosying up to big business just as ever.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe only way to truly stop businesses from paying their workers less than the minimum wage is to ensure that the law is enforced by actual punitive measures. That means serious fines or even jail time for bosses who skirt the law.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bAlthough we believe \u00e2\u20ac\u0098naming and shaming\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 only goes so far in forcing businesses to do the right thing, from our experience with our campaign against Sports Direct, bad publicity can have a powerful effect that can serve as a vehicle for change.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Indeed, after a Unite campaign that brought Sports Direct\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s working practices to the attention of the public, including its failure to pay the minimum wage, Unite won back pay<\/a> for thousands of workers and the company eventually agreed to end its use of zero hours contracts<\/a> for shop staff.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Now, thanks to Unite\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s own \u00e2\u20ac\u0098naming and shaming\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 campaign, Sports Direct has also agreed to a full independent review<\/a> of its employment policies.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIn this sense, \u00e2\u20ac\u0098naming and shaming\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 has its place,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Turner noted. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bBut if it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s being undertaken by the government, the process must be fair and transparent. We call on the government to release the names of the 28 companies that have broken the law and to explain any and all exemptions.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last month, the government celebrated that it had \u00e2\u20ac\u0098named and shamed\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 200 companies for failure to pay the minimum wage \u00e2\u20ac\u201c the largest number of companies since the \u00e2\u20ac\u0098naughty list\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 scheme was first introduced three years ago.   \u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt is not acceptable that some employers fail to pay at least the minimum wage their workers […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9966,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17],"tags":[215,561],"wps_subtitle":"Unite calls on May to name minimum wage dodgers","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9965"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9965"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9965\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9967,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9965\/revisions\/9967"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9966"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9965"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9965"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9965"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}