People Before Profit’s National Minimum Wage (Equal Pay for Young Workers) Bill 2022, that would end sub-minimum wages for young workers, is to be scrutinised this week at the Oireachtas Committee on Enterprise, Trade and Employment. If enacted, the Bill would abolish wage discrimination against young workers.
A People Before Profit bill to end sub-minimum wages for young workers is making slow progress through the Oireachtas. This week the bill will go through what’s known as pre-legislative scrutiny at the Oireachtas Committee on Enterprise, Trade and Employment.
We need to end the situation where young workers are super-exploited while the Government says that is legally okay. Around 15,000 young people in this country are legally paid less than the minimum wage. They are discriminated against for no reason other than their age.
We have a national minimum wage of €12.70 an hour. An amount that is clearly inadequate, given the cost of living and housing crisis. But 19 year olds are legally allowed to be paid 90% of that – €11.43 an hour, 18 year olds €10.16 an hour and 17 year olds and younger €8.89 an hour. This pay discrimination is legal, but it is not fair.
When they go into the shop, young workers cannot pay 70 or 80 or 90% of whatever their groceries cost. If they are renting, they cannot pay 90% of their rent on the grounds that they are only 19. If they’re driving a car, they can’t get a discount on their petrol.
We proposed the National Minimum Wage (Equal Pay for Young Workers) Bill more than a year ago to do away with this legalised super-exploitation, but the government has deliberately slowed down its progress into law. One of their excuses was that the Low Pay Commission was due to report on sub-minimum wage rates. It’s now more than a year later and the Low Pay Commission has reported and is very clear – sub-minimum wage rates should be abolished.
So, the government has no place left to hide and young workers will not wait. The Government must act now to guarantee equal wages for young workers by progressing the People Before Profit bill to outlaw this wage discrimination as soon as possible.
