Research from the Mandate trade union shows nearly two-thirds of retail staff are earning less than €451 per week, or around €50 less than the recommended Living Wage.

The Smoke and Mirrors report found that the biggest challenge to decent incomes for retail workers is the number of hours worked in the sector.

The union has urged legislative change to allow workers to work more than their 'banded-hours' contracts, which replaced zero-hour contracts and limited the number of hours a person can work to a certain range, when extra working hours are available.

Dr Conor McCabe, researcher with Queen's University Belfast Management School, who prepared the report for Mandate, said that while hourly rates have been improving, the relatively low number of hours being worked by retail staff has prevented the increases from being reflected in weekly earnings.

“Last July, Mandate Trade Union conducted a survey amongst 3,000 of its members and the feedback showed that just one fifth (21%) were earning more than the weekly Living Wage which was €502 back then," Dr McCabe said.

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"What’s more, the research shows that nearly two-thirds of the survey respondents (64%) were earning below €451 per week and this is due mainly to the relatively low number of working hours available to retail workers with the CSO showing that such staff work 72% of the average national working week.

“The Mandate survey shows that 75% of the respondents were on a banded-hours contract and, of this cohort, over 50% were on a contract of 31 hours or more a week.

"A significant number of these workers, 40%, would like to work more than their banded hours. While some do get that opportunity, many do not due to a mix of management intransigence and care responsibilities."

Mandate general secretary Gerry Light said that legislative change is needed to allow workers to increase their working hours where extra hours are available so that they can earn a decent weekly income.

"Our experience on the ground shows that where extra hours are available, many companies are actively choosing to by-pass offering those hours to existing staff who are looking for them, instead choosing to go with ‘new starts’ in order to keep their wage bills down," he said.

Light also said that the National Minimum Wage is "no longer fit for purpose" and needs to be replaced with a 'Cost of Living Wage,' which he claimed would "ensure that everyone in work can have enough income to live decently.

"In addition, the sub-minimum rates that apply to young workers and deny them decent incomes – as well as being blatantly discriminatory – need to be abolished too."

The government in November agreed to introduce a National Living Wage to replace the National Minimum Wage by 2026. Starting this year, it will be phased in over a four-year period, and will be set at 60% of the hourly median wage.

The minimum wage increased 80 cent to €11.30 per hour in January, and 60% of median earnings would currently equate to €13.10 per hour.

(Pic: Getty Images)