Female migrants more likely to be paid below minimum wage
18 August 2008
Female migrant workers are the most likely group to be paid less than the national minimum wage (NMW), TUC-sponsored research has revealed.
Women who are recent migrants to the UK are 1.5 times more likely than male migrant workers to be paid less than the NMW, the study by the Centre on Migration, Policy and Society (Compas) at the University of Oxford revealed. This equates to about 35,000 being denied the NMW.
Compas reviewed the pay, working hours, type of work and accommodation of recent migrant workers who have been living and working in the UK for less than 10 years.
The report found that recent migrants work longer hours per week than most other workers – 55 per cent work 31-48 hours per week, and 15.4 per cent work more than 48 hours per week. This compared with 48.3 per cent and 13 per cent respectively of general workers.
Recent migrant workers are more than twice as likely as other workers to be earning less than the appropriate NMW for their age.
TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: “The rogue employers who underpay the NMW deserve zero tolerance. The NMW is making a real difference to the lives of many low-paid migrant workers, and we must continue to crack down on those mean bosses not paying their staff the legal wage to which they are entitled.
“The TUC's Commission on Vulnerable Employment heard many complaints from migrant workers, including excessively long hours, no contract and a complete lack of health and safety training.”
The Recruitment and Employment Confederation welcomed the report. Tom Hadley, director of external relations, said: “All workers, irrespective of where they come from, are entitled to the minimum wage. Agencies who supply workers at under the legal minimum are harming both the employee and other reputable agencies, who support and work within the industry standards. Breaking the law is not acceptable. REC will be playing an active role in promoting the new initiatives from the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform – such as a single helpline to report abuse – to workers and good employers alike. Bad practice must be reported and the government has a duty to ensure that the law is followed.”