"Pay cuts in cleaning companies – employees feel humiliated,"

Over the past two weeks, RÚV has spoken with cleaning company employees who were suddenly faced with a difficult choice: accept a pay cut or lose their jobs...

Most employees in these companies were called in for individual meetings, where they were informed that their current contracts were being terminated and presented with new agreements offering lower hourly wages.

Those who refused to sign the new contracts were dismissed under the pretext of organisational changes within the company. The affected employees, mostly foreigners—including many Polish women—are in shock and feel humiliated by this treatment.

According to the workers' accounts, their hourly wages were reduced by approximately 500 ISK, leading to a monthly salary decrease of 90,000 to 100,000 ISK. Companies justify these changes by citing the need for cost-cutting due to fewer cleaning contracts...

Employees are told that the only way to keep their jobs is to accept the lower wages. If they refuse, they have two options: resigning voluntarily, which results in a two-month waiting period for unemployment benefits, or waiting until the end of their notice period and being officially terminated.

In many cases, the company hires new workers—often newly arrived immigrants unfamiliar with the job market—who start at the lowest pay rates due to their lack of work experience and tenure.

Some employees have sought help from labour unions, only to be informed that the changes comply with current regulations and wage tables. Many of them have worked for these companies for years, some even for over a decade, and find it hard to believe that their employer has the right to implement such drastic pay cuts. They feel deceived and question whether these practices are truly legal.

...