UK names and shames skinflint employers
(CNS): As Cayman wrestles with the idea of implementing a minimum wage after the labour minister expressed her reluctance in the Legislative Assembly this week, the UK government is taking things a step further and naming and shaming skinflint employers who fail to give their workers the basic legal pay. Five employers who failed to pay their staff the minimum wage have been "named and shamed" by the government, the BBC reported Friday, under new rules which came into effect last October. The employers owed £6,800 in arrears between them to six workers and have been fined £3,381.
Similar offences will attract higher penalties of up to £20,000 from 7 March this year, with the government planning to bring in even stiffer sanctions. Those would see rogue employers fined up to £20,000 for each individual worker who had been underpaid.
The adult rate for the national minimum wage in the UK rose by 12 pence last October to £6.31 an hour, which is more than CI$8. Britain’s Low Pay Commission has also recommended that the government increase the rate by 3%, bringing it £6.50 an hour.
Meanwhile, here in Cayman, the government has rejected a private member's motion filed by independent member Ezzard Miller suggesting a starting point of just $5 in order to do “more research” and “set up a committee".
Category: World News
Blimey, the geezer in the photo is a dead ringer for my old boss in Edinburgh, the tightest bloke I'd ever met. Were these skinflint employers in Scotland by any chance?
The difference between Europe and the cayman islands in social development is about 80 years. We have a lot of catching up to do.
I wish the UK will order the Cayman Islands to institute a minimum wage on par with that in the UK. It is shameful what is going on here and the poor are the ones who are suffering. In the history of the Cayman Islands we seldom encountered beggers but now they appear everywhere, swallowing their pride and begging. These are not just the druggies looking a fix but people who have been hard workers and are trying to life an upright life. The labour minister needs to do some soul searching, if she has a soul.
Goodness, that last clause is pretty heavy stuff.