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Press Releases
Inside Out North East and Cumbria reveals Newcastle workers offered less than minimum wage
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A 91Èȱ¬ investigation for tonight's Inside Out North East and Cumbria (7.30pm, Wednesday 17 September, 91Èȱ¬ One) finds that restaurants and takeaways in Newcastle are employing staff paid sometimes as
little as half the legally enforceable minimum wage.
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An undercover reporter set out to try to find work in takeaways in the centre of the city. In the space of a couple of hours she was told she could work in four outlets for cash.
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One offered a shift working through the night for just over £2 an hour. The minimum wage is currently £5.52 an hour.
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The reporter was asked to work "test" shifts without pay – and all the jobs offered were paid in cash without national insurance and tax deductions.
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The reporter posing as a waitress then went to work for a new restaurant, Red Mezze on Leazes Park Road, where she was paid just £4 an hour.
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The money was given cash in hand without records being kept. Staff shifts were cut short when the restaurant was not busy.
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The manager at Red Mezze told Inside Out that if the restaurant had "inadvertently infringed any legal requirement" they would rectify the position without delay.
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He also said staff wages were topped up with tips, although even with the tips the 91Èȱ¬ reporter was still not paid the minimum wage.
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Inside Out has shown tonight's programme to the TUC's Kevin Rowan who says: "One of the shocking things about this is how open and confident these employers are in offering what are clearly illegal terms and conditions.
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"You can tell by the way they're talking and their expressions that they have no fear about being prosecuted at all."
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There are just eight minimum wage inspectors to cover the whole of the North East of England.
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Pat MacFadden, the Minister with responsibility for enforcing the minimum wage legislation, told the programme that there are enough inspectors – but that the Government is working on imposing fines on employers who ignore the legislation.
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Pat MacFadden said: "There is a new bill going through Parliament at the moment which will introduce an automatic penalty for any employer who does not pay the minimum wage to their staff.
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"There is an extra three million pounds a year going into enforcing the national minimum wage over the next few years.
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"I've no doubt people will always say well three million is not enough and you should be spending more. But there is more going in."
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Notes to Editors
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Any use of material in this press release should credit Inside Out on 91Èȱ¬ One North East and Cumbria at 7.30pm on Wednesday 17 September 2008.
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HH2
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