Highway robbery
Building firms contracted on a regular basis to carry out roadworks for the county and city councils are blatantly flouting employment law over holiday pay and health and safety provision.
Since November 1999, the new Working Time Regulations have given all building workers (PAYE and CIS) the entitlement to four weeks paid holiday a year. This is to be paid at the rate of the employee’s normal weekly wage, so if you work Saturdays this must also be included in your holiday entitlement.
Leys Independent has identified two companies supplying men to the council that are not complying with this legislation. Others are also suspected of breaking the law.
One Headington-based council contractor has the particular distinction of withholding holiday pay (including bank holidays) from not only its so-called self-employed workers, but from those on the cards as well.
Health and safety also takes a back seat for many firms hired to carry out council construction work. It is common practice for tight-fisted employers to send their workers out in unroadworthy vehicles which are illegal to drive, while the requirement to provide protective clothing and equipment is usually treated as nothing more than a joke.
However, when it comes to claiming expenses—to be picked up by the council—these same firms are careful to put down van hire costs at commercial rates and to include every piece of safety equipment they can think of.
The chain of command at Oxfordshire County Council Environmental Services and Oxford City Council Engineering Services can be a lengthy one. ISIS Accord is the main contractor of local authority highways work. ISIS supplies work to its own gangs who then contract out the remaining work to a myriad of smaller firms. These, in turn with their own staff, hire the services of employment agencies which supply work to people on their books.
Everyone in this over-complicated administrative set-up takes their share of the taxpayer-funded council budget before those who actually do the work get their wage packet.
Many of the firms employed by ISIS Accord are a law unto themselves. If workers complain about not receiving holiday pay or health and safety issues they will be sacked.
Companies who refuse to pay their workers holiday money or dismiss them for complaining can be taken to an employment tribunal. However, such cases can take a long time to resolve and can be difficult to pursue without legal advice so it is understandable that many employees choose to keep quiet.
The IWCA would of course encourage workers to take action against employers who break the law and we are happy to provide advice to anyone on Blackbird Leys who is facing these problems at work (please see box at the end of this article).
However, it is our local authorities that should be taking action. By continuing to channel taxpayer’s money to building firms that are openly breaking the law they are giving a green light to such behaviour. It is a scandal that the councils have allowed this situation to develop. It is high time they conducted a thorough investigation into illegal workplace practices amongst the contractors and sub-contractors they employ.
Leys Independent, Issue 11, March 2002
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