Unless you live under a rock you will have heard about changes to the minimum wage in the last week – It’s increased by 1%. However, accompanying this “sensible decision” are concerns about the enforcement of the minimum wage. Despite it being against the law, employers are using sneaky ways to avoid paying the minimum rates say Nigel Morris and Oscar Quine for The Independent last week.
The low pay commission, which recommends minimum wage levels estimates that more than 100,000 adults receive below the legal rates.
These shocking figures are only estimates, up to 300,000 employees could be unlawfully denied the minimum wage.
Ways employers are avoiding paying the full wage include:
- Restaurants assuming staff will receive a certain sum in tips.
- Employees being wrongly classified as volunteers, untitled to a wage.
- Companies charging staff for uniforms/accommodation/transport.
- Paying cash in hand means hours and wages go unrecorded.
The Independent article has some great case studies, showing how hidden below the wage paying really is.
Paying a price for cost efficiency?
Children’s charity, Children England‘s policy manager Nick Davis, has managed to link the change in minimum wage to the spread of zero hour contracts.
As reported on “Who really works on a zero hour contract” a large percentage of zero hour contract workers are 16-24 year olds, just under half to be precise.
Davis states that yes, in business terms the benefits of zero hour contracts are great in the short term.
However, in the context of the wider economy and society, it is a disaster.
The necessity or lack of for employers to train staff on zero hour contracts means that capacity over quality is an issue. Therefore, once again, zero hour contracts have been compared to an historical event.
This is exactly the problem that G4S had in the run up to the Olympics and in most cases the armed forces aren’t able to step in!
Zero hour contracts: the secret scandal 
Nicely rounded up but watch for typos. “week- It’s ” is missing a space before the dash and shouldn’t have a capital. If you’re quoting two people it’s “say” not “says Bob and John”. unnessesity isn’t a word, and necessity is spelt with one c and two s’s. 16-24-year-olds doesn’t have an apostrophe (only missing letters – e.g. he’s – or possessive relationships – e.g. Bob’s head – have apostrophes). Always try to simplify, simplify, simplify.
Now, to get in contact with those bodies and get some expert, original reaction and detailed quotes!