Worker was paid 29p an hour

A worker with learning difficulties who received just 29p-an-hour for stacking shelves has won £5,000 in compensation.

The man, who does not want to be identified, is in his 30s and moved to Britain from East Africa two years ago.

Today, it has been revealed how he was reduced to "slave labour", working for poverty wages by a boss flouting minimum wage rules.

Falcon Cash-and-Carry, of Syston Street West, Leicester, offered him 29p an hour for his first few weeks in the job.

Minimum wage officials say the unemployed man took the work because the employer said his wage would increase "once he had shown what he could do".

The shelf stacker's wage did increase to just 96p an hour. The minimum wage is supposed to be £4.50 an hour for workers aged 22 years and over.

The man worked there for six months before he complained to the Highfields Minimum Wage Project, a Government-funded scheme set up to help low paid workers.

The project and trade union KFAT used minimum wage legislation to take the company to an employment tribunal where it was ordered to pay £5,000 in compensation and legal costs.

Company director Ashwin Patel has paid the full amount owed. He was not available for comment today.

Minimum wage project officer Champa Chudasama said: "I was extremely pleased that the worker got the money he had worked for. It was slave labour.

"The clear message to businesses who do this is that we will persist until we get the minimum wage."