Firms 'cheat' workers out of sick pay

Firms 'cheat' workers out of sick pay

Public sector employers have been urged to ensure all those working for them have a right to sick pay after a union study found multinationals providing contracted out cleaning and catering staff were denying this 'basic right'. Public sector union UNISON says it is angry and frustrated that across the country school and hospital staff, often on or just above the minimum wage, are being denied sick pay. General secretary Dave Prentis said: 'It cannot be right that these massive multinational companies can make huge profits but still cheat workers out of basic terms like sick pay - it is enough to make anyone sick. Cleaners and dinner ladies in schools and hospitals are paid on or just above the minimum wage, and struggle to make ends meet. Many also struggle into work when they are sick, risking their own health and the health of people around them. This is particularly true in hospitals where vulnerable patients may be put at risk by catching infections.' The UNISON leader added: 'UNISON is outraged at government plans to scrap the two-tier workforce code, which could see even more workers' rights sacrificed for company profits this year, sparking a race to the bottom.' Under the current two-tier workforce code, new starters employed by contract companies are meant to get broadly comparable wages, terms and conditions as staff transferred across from the public sector. Major firms the UNISON survey found had denied sick pay to staff employed on public sector contracts included Compass, Sodexo, Medirest and ISS.

UNISON news release. The Mirror. BBC News Online.