wage cut. legal?

garv123

I'm currently earning €10 a hour where i work (pub) and as of next week we were told we're all getting a wage cut due to the new drop in minimum wage change. there cutting us back town to 7.65 a hour.
We're been told by some people that they cant do this and that they an only cut you a euro.

so basically does anyone know the truth about this? can they do what they like and cut a quarter of our wages all of a sudden


(i dont see how the budget can be an excuse to cut our wage when we weren't on minimum wage in the first place, and its not as if drink went up making them lose money, even though they upped the price of drink)

Max Power1

if your wages are listed in your contract they cannot alter them without your consent

garv123

Max Power1 wrote: »

if your wages are listed in your contract they cannot alter them without your consent

ummm contract? tis only a local country pub. never signed anything or was giving anything. only ever had to give my pps number.

it was always just €8 if ur under 18 and €10 when you turn 18

jimmynokia

garv123 wrote: »

ummm contract? tis only a local country pub. never signed anything or was giving anything. only ever had to give my pps number.

it was always just €8 if ur under 18 and €10 when you turn 18

they can only cut you one euro if your on the minimum,anything over that they can cut it to there liking with notice and consent they cant go below the minimum wage .
after that its up to you either stay there or leave

astrofool

You weren't on the minimum wage to start with, so they're just basically cutting your wage.

qc3

This is how the rates will apply.

Ireland November 2010 : Minimum Pay Rates in Ireland
Since July 2007 the national minimum rate for pay in Ireland are as follows:
Hourly Rates Shown:
Experienced adult worker €8.65
Aged under 18 €6.06
Over 18 and in first year of first employment €6.92
Over 19 and in 2nd year of first employment €7.79
Employee aged over 18, in structured training during working hours
1st one third of course €6.49
2nd third of course €6.92
3rd part of course €7.79
It was announced as part of the 4 Year Recovery Plan in November 2010 that the minimum wage in Ireland will be decreased by 12%.
A date for this decrease was not given – but it is expected to be sometime in 2011.
If the change goes ahead – the new levels of minimum wages will be as follows :-
Experienced adult worker €7.65
Aged under 18 €5.33
Over 18 and in first year of first employment €6.09
Over 19 and in 2nd year of first employment €6.86
Employee aged over 18, in structured training during working hours
1st one third of course €5.72
2nd third of course €6.09
3rd part of course €6.86

Still not sure if it leagle to cut someones wages to M/W

RandolphEsq

garv123 wrote: »

I'm currently earning €10 a hour where i work (pub) and as of next week we were told we're all getting a wage cut due to the new drop in minimum wage change. there cutting us back town to 7.65 a hour.
We're been told by some people that they cant do this and that they an only cut you a euro.

so basically does anyone know the truth about this? can they do what they like and cut a quarter of our wages all of a sudden


(i dont see how the budget can be an excuse to cut our wage when we weren't on minimum wage in the first place, and its not as if drink went up making them lose money, even though they upped the price of drink)

That is below the current minimum wage so yes it is illegal. The new minimum wage is not due until May/June of next year

garv123

astrofool wrote: »

You weren't on the minimum wage to start with, so they're just basically cutting your wage.

basically and using the budget as an excuse.

RandolphEsq wrote: »

That is below the current minimum wage so yes it is illegal. The new minimum wage is not due until May/June of next year

Finance minister Brian Lenihan confirmed today that Ireland’s minimum wage will be reduced to €7.65 per hour.

The €1 an hour reduction from the previous rate of €8.65 was announced today as part of the Government’s four-year National Recovery Plan.

The change will be effective almost immediately.
http://www.businessandleadership.com/economy/item/26885-new-minimum-wage-rate-for-i





so basically anyway theres no limit or anything we can do about been cut quarter of our wages all of a sudden beside take it or quit?

slimjimmc

Dail debate on 9th Dec

Deputy Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Innovation ( Dara Calleary):
:
:
It is important to point out, in reference to the speech by the Minister for Finance, Deputy Lenihan, earlier today that the ministerial order will set out that where an employee is already working under a contract of employment that sets wages at or above the national minimum wage, the employee is entitled under his or her contract of employment to continue to be paid those wages unless otherwise agreed between both the employer and the employee concerned, or unless the contract stipulates that the employer pays only the national minimum wage hourly rate. An existing employee will be under no obligation to accept a rate of pay reduced by the employer on a unilateral basis as an employer cannot arbitrarily impose a new rate of pay that would contractually bind an existing employee. If the employer proceeds unilaterally to make a change in agreed rates of pay the employee would have grounds for a complaint under the Payment of Wages Act or for breach of contract in common law.

Basically it all depends on your contract.

daithi2011

You can refuse a wage cut.
Ask for a month to think about it first. They cant cut them without your agreement.
After the month is up you can refuse the wage cut.
They can then go through a process that basically makes you redundant, along with the redundancy payout you are entitled to. But they cannot then hire a new person to do your job as they have made the job redundant. If they do, you talk to your solicitor.

They wont want to do this if they need someone to do that job. Most companies scare people into taking cuts though and people fall for it.

Just refuse the cut.

My own company are now letting people go. Waiting the required period of time. And then goinf to get people to work for free on the WPP scheme. They dont know though that the people they let go know this, and are talking to their solicitors in preparation for when the company takes on these wpp staff.

slimjimmc

daithi2011 wrote: »

You can refuse a wage cut.
Ask for a month to think about it first. They cant cut them without your agreement.
After the month is up you can refuse the wage cut.
They can then go through a process that basically makes you redundant, along with the redundancy payout you are entitled to. But they cannot then hire a new person to do your job as they have made the job redundant. If they do, you talk to your solicitor.

They wont want to do this if they need someone to do that job. Most companies scare people into taking cuts though and people fall for it.

Just refuse the cut.

If your contract (if you have one) states you get €8.65 or €10 then they must hold to that, however if it states you only get the National minimum wage hourly rate then that's all they're obliged to pay.

garv123

thats all well and good lads and thanks for taking the time to reply but you see im working in a country pub one or two nights a week with no "contract" with our terms of pay written anywhere and we were never earning minimum wage.
so basically we've got no leg to stand on and take the cut?

we got a new list of rules in a letter with our wages and on another handwritten page it basically said "due to the new minimum wage in the budget there will be a cut in ye're wages from December 13th"
none of us are happy about this and didn't agree to anything, 4 out of the 6 of us yesterday were days and nobody is at all happy or wanting to agree with it.
for some who aren't in college it will be more of a benefit to quit and sign on the dole.

jimmynokia

this will probably become more common with greedy boses all over the county thanks to the fcukin muppets runnin the country

keith gallagher

Consider yourself lucky. We were told last wednesday to take a 15% paycut or the company would close. Nobody agreed to it at first but now over half the workers feel it'd be better to be earning 100 euro less a week than be sitting at home and get 160 whatever dole a week

garv123

keith gallagher wrote: »

Consider yourself lucky. We were told last wednesday to take a 15% paycut or the company would close. Nobody agreed to it at first but now over half the workers feel it'd be better to be earning 100 euro less a week than be sitting at home and get 160 whatever dole a week

its 25% for me and if we do complain we'l get the whole " accept it of we'l find someone else who's willing to "

slimjimmc

Has the order been issued and signed by the Minister yet, until then the new rate doesn't come into effect?

daithi2011

garv123 wrote: »

thats all well and good lads and thanks for taking the time to reply but you see im working in a country pub one or two nights a week with no "contract" with our terms of pay written anywhere and we were never earning minimum wage.
so basically we've got no leg to stand on and take the cut?

Then you do have a leg to stand on. Your contract is the hourly rate you normally get paid.

Edit : I just saw you are only part time. Basically you have no rights.

daithi2011

keith gallagher wrote: »

Consider yourself lucky. We were told last wednesday to take a 15% paycut or the company would close. Nobody agreed to it at first but now over half the workers feel it'd be better to be earning 100 euro less a week than be sitting at home and get 160 whatever dole a week

You dont have to accept it even if half the company does.
My wifes company tried this about a year ago. There was quite a lot of pressure applied.
about 50% of the staff took a cut of 15%. The rest refused the cut.
So today that 50% have their 15% cut. Those who refused are still getting their usual wage.

tudlytops

This is not about the budget.

Contact this people, that's what they are there for..

http://www.employmentrights.ie/en/informationforemployers/

keith gallagher

daithi2011 wrote: »

You dont have to accept it even if half the company does.
My wifes company tried this about a year ago. There was quite a lot of pressure applied.
about 50% of the staff took a cut of 15%. The rest refused the cut.
So today that 50% have their 15% cut. Those who refused are still getting their usual wage.

Thanks Daithi. That has relieved me quite a bit. I couldn't afford any kind of paycut. If i did take it I'd have to look for a part-time job to make ends meet. I just feel they'll still try and bully me into it. They are looking for it for 3 months after Christmas under the workers terms that it won't affect our redundancy in any way.