Latest:
Workers’ fury over £660 bill for CSCS card
10:47 25 May 2005
|
CITB-ConstructionSkills is to launch an inquiry into what it calls an “industry scandal” after being alerted by CJ to a potential money-making scam, which involves charging employees £660 each to obtain Construction Skills Certification Cards (CSCS).
The practice was set out in a memo from Basildon-based Woodlands Plant Hire (WPH), which notified all staff that they will be docked the money from their wages to pay for the card.
Companies looking to put their employees through CSCS are expected to pay for the costs themselves and recoup the money through the grant system.
Employees are expected to contribute only £17.50 and £12 for the touch-screen test and the CSCS card respectively.
However, correspondence obtained by CJ shows that company official Gary Redmond said: “The overall cost of completing this will be £660. This is broken down into £35 for a touch-screen health and safety test, £250 for payment for profiling and registration, £188 for onsite assessment completed and £187 towards a certificate and a skills card.
“The above cost will need to be met by each employee. The payments will be deducted from your wage, one week prior to each section being completed. Without the CSCS card, you will be unable to work on WPH sites.”
CSCS chairman George Brumwell admitted he was “shocked” by the news and would launch an immediate investigation following his return from a holiday in France.
“We had our suspicions for some time that something was going on down the supply chain and that companies might be pocketing grant money. However, this is the first specific case we have been alerted to,” he told CJ from across the Channel.
“CSCS has been increasingly concerned at the low uptake of the biblical trades such as plastering and carpentry, which stands at just 8%.
“We thought the barrier was down to the costs of workers having to pay for a card. This
discovery could point to a whole new cause.”
It still remains unclear if WPH has been claiming grants over previous years, but still charging its workers for CSCS cards.
CITB-ConstructionSkills confirmed that WPH was eligible for grant payments, but added that information into contractors’ claims for grants was “private and confidential”.
At least 140 carpenters working for WPH on a multi-million pound project in Islington, London, are known to be affected by the ruling and are in uproar at the illegal process.
Charging just these workers for a CSCS card would allow WPH to make £92,400.
“This is just not on and if they touch my money I will take them to court,” one WPH employee said. “What is more worrying is that there are a lot of Lithuanian and Polish workers on this site that don’t have a good grasp of English and will just pay the money without question.”
WPH was unwilling to make any comment.
Have you been charged more than the going rate for a CSCS card? If so, contact ross.pearman@rbi.co.uk.
The practice was set out in a memo from Basildon-based Woodlands Plant Hire (WPH), which notified all staff that they will be docked the money from their wages to pay for the card.
Companies looking to put their employees through CSCS are expected to pay for the costs themselves and recoup the money through the grant system.
Employees are expected to contribute only £17.50 and £12 for the touch-screen test and the CSCS card respectively.
However, correspondence obtained by CJ shows that company official Gary Redmond said: “The overall cost of completing this will be £660. This is broken down into £35 for a touch-screen health and safety test, £250 for payment for profiling and registration, £188 for onsite assessment completed and £187 towards a certificate and a skills card.
ADVERTISEMENT
“The above cost will need to be met by each employee. The payments will be deducted from your wage, one week prior to each section being completed. Without the CSCS card, you will be unable to work on WPH sites.”
CSCS chairman George Brumwell admitted he was “shocked” by the news and would launch an immediate investigation following his return from a holiday in France.
“We had our suspicions for some time that something was going on down the supply chain and that companies might be pocketing grant money. However, this is the first specific case we have been alerted to,” he told CJ from across the Channel.
“CSCS has been increasingly concerned at the low uptake of the biblical trades such as plastering and carpentry, which stands at just 8%.
“We thought the barrier was down to the costs of workers having to pay for a card. This
discovery could point to a whole new cause.”
It still remains unclear if WPH has been claiming grants over previous years, but still charging its workers for CSCS cards.
CITB-ConstructionSkills confirmed that WPH was eligible for grant payments, but added that information into contractors’ claims for grants was “private and confidential”.
At least 140 carpenters working for WPH on a multi-million pound project in Islington, London, are known to be affected by the ruling and are in uproar at the illegal process.
Charging just these workers for a CSCS card would allow WPH to make £92,400.
“This is just not on and if they touch my money I will take them to court,” one WPH employee said. “What is more worrying is that there are a lot of Lithuanian and Polish workers on this site that don’t have a good grasp of English and will just pay the money without question.”
WPH was unwilling to make any comment.
Have you been charged more than the going rate for a CSCS card? If so, contact ross.pearman@rbi.co.uk.
ADVERTISEMENT
Most Viewed Articles
ADVERTISEMENT