Most responsible businesses now recognise that the introduction of National Minimum Wage has worked to their advantage, but a few local employers seem to be trying to gain short term advantages by underpaying their workers. That is why Copeland MP Jamie Reed has launched a campaign to stop unscrupulous employers exploiting workers by breaking the minimum wage law. He has written to local trade unionists, business groups, local authorities and faith groups, asking them to report all cases of employers paying illegally low wages.

Jamie is convinced that the overwhelming majority of businesses in Copeland do exactly what’s required by law, but he is determined to make sure no one tries to exploit workers or make an unfair profit by trying to dodge the minimum wage law.

He is extremely proud of the minimum wage "as a mark of a civilised society" and he has no intention of letting anyone get away with paying illegally low wages in Copeland or anywhere else.

With new powers announced today, employers that refuse to pay up can end up with a criminal record and a £5,000 fine, and Jamie urges anyone who isn’t getting what they’re owed to contact him on 01946 62024 so that he can put a stop to their being exploited.
It is in the interests of employers to have a well paid and highly motivated work force and develop the talents of their human resources to the full. We recently wrote to Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, John Hutton, drawing his attention to the problems disabled people may face at work. Remembering the very happy time he spent in Egremont canvassing in the European election of 1989, John wrote us a personal letter, expressing his strong support for the principle that everyone who wants to enter employment, whatever their health condition or disability, should get the necessary help and support to enable them to do so as soon as they are able to. "That is why we are working with employers to increase awareness of the needs of all groups, including those with mental health conditions," he declares. Nearly four out of ten people who claim Incapacity Benefit have such a condition and the longer people remain on the benefit the worse these problems will become. In order to give early support to help people manage their conditions his Department has invested heavily in training for personal advisers and in condition management programmes in the innovative Pathways to Work pilot areas which will provide a service nationally from April 2008. The Welfare Reform Bill includes the proposal to introduce, from that date, a new benefit which will combine the equivalent of Incapacity Benefit and Income Support called the Employment and Support Allowance.
He also declares his Department's commitment to improving the rights of disabled people to enable them to participate fully in all areas of society. The Disability Discrimination Act 1995, as amended, defines a disabled person as anyone "with a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect upon his or her ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities" and makes clear that employers are guilty of discrimination if they treat a disabled person less favourably for a reason relating to the disability than they would treat others, or if they refuse to make reasonable adjustments.

Less favourable treatment might be, for example, refusing to take on, train or promote a disabled person, or not allowing them access to work-related facilities like a canteen or social club. Reasonable adjustments might include part-time working, not counting time taken off in relation to a disability as sick leave, redeployment to other duties, or the transfer of minor duties to another employee.
We warmly welcome John's robust statement concerning discrimination and the right to seek training and promotion. It is as unreasonable to expect workers who suffer from clinical depression to react calmly to distress or provocation as it is to expect partially sighted workers to see normally. Employers ought also to realise that workers with mental disabilities are not inferior but may well have talents which are being neglected. The fact that they find it difficult to cope with simple, boring jobs does not imply that they could not rise to the challenge of something more challenging to their imagination. People with mental disabilities are often able to concentrate with particular intensity on projects that excite them. Managers who fail to appreciate their potential are letting down their company as well as their workers.
We admit a personal bias in making this statement. Egremont Today would not exist at all if its editor did not suffer from a mental disability and it would be killed off at a stroke if his doctors were ever misguided enough to cure him.