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| You are here: LEGAL ISSUES : Related Article |
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Minimum Wage Guaranteed
A claim was made recently by a semi-professional rugby player in England who was in dispute with his club. The player wanted to leave but the club wouldn't let him, arguing that he was under contract and had to stay. The club could do this as they hold the players' registration, notwithstanding the fact that the player received no pay or benefit other than the use of a car and gym membership.
As the club would not back down the player asked to be paid the minimum wage for all the hours that were spent 'working' for the club. This included time spent training and playing, and also time spent travelling to away games. Unfortunately the dispute reached the courts where it was decided that "any player who is playing under a contract of employment is entitled to the minimum wage for all the hours spent working for the club".
The possible affects of this are enormous as there must be hundreds of players who have signed contracts and yet receive no pay or benefits. Under this ruling, they are entitled to pay. However, it is unlikely that the clubs affected will be able to pay wages for players. What is a player to do if faced with the choice of receiving pay and bankrupting the club or receiving no pay and continuing to play rugby? A suggestion would be for the registration system to change for all but professional teams. This would have the benefit of enabling players to move more freely and would hopefully stop such clubs saying again that a player cannot move as he is 'under contract'. We shall see...
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