The TUC web and e-newsletter site for activists Unionreps reported on the first ever criminal prosecution over the Minimum wage. Leading aside the fairly obvious question over why it has taken so long for there to be a criminal prosecution (the National Minimum Wage Act was passed in 1998, and has been in force for 8 years – why on earth is this the first prosecution, surely no-one is trying to suggest this is the first ever breach?)
You may also ask why the proprietor of Rascals Day Nursery in Walthamstow, East London was only fined £2,500 and £500 in costs when the judge referred to her “clear and deliberate intent to obstruct officers and this was a scandalous breach of the National Minimum Wage legislation." It would appear that the nursery owner deliberately refused to co-operate or give access to Minimum wage inspectors. Why she was not charged with “perverting the course of justice” and jailed? Is this nursery still running under the same owner despite her obvious gross dishonesty?
What is really annoying about this case is that I found an advert on a web site which boasted that this nursery “is the least expensive nursery school in the area”. No wonder, if they rob staff of wages. It also drives down standards since schools that pay and treat their staff decently cannot compete with such cowboys.
A close relative of mine has recently qualified as a child care worker and I have been horrified at what she has experienced during her training and work experience. Not only the low pay that she should expect even if she worked for a local authority primary school (£12,000 pa even with a 2 year diploma equivalent to 3 “A” levels) but the standards in many private nurseries are frankly appalling. Child activity plans are fiddled, no outdoor playing facilities, some nurseries “encourage” kids to sleep for excessive periods, unqualified cooks and everything is done on the “cheap” . Some owners also treat their staff little better than serfs. Shouting, swearing and bullying vulnerable staff. Paying minimum wage (at best), minimum annual leave, no sick pay or pensions.
Affordable and decent child care in this country is also a key political issue that does not get the importance that it deserves. I haven’t got any kids but working parents tell me this is a central and fundamental issue to them. By coincidence the Daycare Trust also made a report on Unionreps about the lack of financial support for nursery care by the British government compared to elsewhere in Europe. If our economy really depends upon both parents working then the state must spend the money needed to provide decent childcare.
I know that a lot of parents are worried about standards in nurseries and I don’t want to add to their fears. However, there are real problems and I think that part of the answer at least is a significant expansion of state provision, financial support and regulation in child care. In this age of “evidence based policies” and “joined up working”, why doesn’t all this strike home somewhere in Westminister?
I know that a lot of parents are worried about standards in nurseries and I don’t want to add to their fears. However, there are real problems and I think that part of the answer at least is a significant expansion of state provision, financial support and regulation in child care. In this age of “evidence based policies” and “joined up working”, why doesn’t all this strike home somewhere in Westminister?
