Cleaners cheated

Some private contractors providing cleaning and catering staff to schools and hospitals are cheating staff out of sick pay, according to public services union Unison. This is happening even where workers receive only the minimum wage.

General secretary Dave Prentis pointed out that “cleaners and dinner ladies in schools and hospitals are paid on or just above the minimum wage, and struggle to make ends meet. Many struggle into work when they are sick, risking their own health and the health of people around them.” He said this is “particularly true in hospitals where vulnerable patients may be put at risk by catching infections.”

Prentis added: “It cannot be right that... massive multinational companies can make huge profits but still cheat workers out of basic terms like sick pay.”

Some local authorities have indicated an intention to target sick pay as a possible source for achieving cost-savings. These developments come against the backdrop of the announcement on 13 December 2010 that the Code of practice on workforce matters in public sector service contracts (the “two-tier code”) was to be scrapped with immediate effect .