Better pay for home workers from October 2004
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24 February 2004
On 23rd February 2004, the DTI announced that from October 2004 new law will be brought in giving more rights to home workers. The main parts of the new law are as follows:
From October 2004, employers will:
- no longer be allowed to set the rate of pay at four fifths of the time it takes an average worker to complete a set piece of work;
- give employees clearer information about the rate they are expected to work at, and their hourly wage;
- pay all home workers the minimum wage for all hours worked; or,
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100 percent of the national minimum wage for the number of hours it takes an average worker to complete an agreed block of work - a ‘fair piece rate.’
In April 2005, home workers will see a further improvement in their wages when employers will have to pay the average worker at a rate of 120 percent of the national minimum wage for a block of work.
Clearly, this must be good news for the estimated 170,000 home workers across the country.