50,000 low-pay workers to receive higher salaries

The cleaning and security sectors are amongst the ones with a higher number of foreign employees and also with lower salaries. Today, this situation has improved a little, after new wage agreements for these sectors were signed into law. The Minister for Employment, Ged Nash, stated that the reform will involve 30,000 cleaning and 20,000 security workers.

For the last four years, workers in these areas were benefiting only from the basic protections of the Minimum Wage and Working Time legislation.

From today, the pay of contract cleaners will be €9.75 an hour for the first 44 hours – up from €9.50 under the old legislation, and an increase of 2.6%. The employees in the security sector will see their basic pay rate rise from €10.01 under the old system to €10.75 – an increase of 7.4%.

The new deal also includes conditions such as annual leave and sick pay, and the wage increases for both sectors will be payable with immediate effect.