June 28, 2010
Thirteen minimum wage cleaners working at some of London’s five-star hotels have been awarded back pay and damages after successfully challenging their employer’s gross underpayments.
Hotelcare, the contract company which employed the cleaners, was paying some of its employees far below the national minimum standards. A BBC investigation last July found that employees working 40 hour weeks were being paid just half of their rightful earnings.
Each cleaner and room attendant signed agreements specifying they would be paid a minimum wage hourly rate, then £5.73. But, when they received their wage slips, they discovered the agency had instead paid them according to the number of rooms cleaned.
The room attendants took their case to London’s Employment Tribunal, claiming they had been underpaid by Hotelcare and a previous employer, and that the correct records had not been kept, an offence under minimum wage legislation.
The case was settled, with substantial payments made to each room attendant by Hotelcare and previous employer, Omni Facilities, according to the BBC.
Under the terms of the agreement reached, neither the room attendants nor their solicitors were allowed to comment on the settlement.
"Park Plaza is pleased that Hotelcare has completed its investigation into employee grievances and understands that a settlement has been reached,” read a statement from regular Hotelcare client Park Plaza.
National Minimum Wage, currently £5.80 for all workers aged 22 and over, will rise by 2% this October, increasing by 13p to £5.93.
If you feel your employer is breaching minimum wage standards and not rewarding you properly for hours of hard work, approach your local solicitor and, like Hotelcare’s employees, discover if damages and legal action are available.
