Employers' worst excuses for not paying the minimum wage
Fifteen years since the introduction of the national minimum wage, HMRC shares the worst excuses employers have come out with when caught not meeting their responsibilities.
It has been fifteen years since the introduction of the national minimum wage. To mark the occasion, HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has revealed some of the elaborate (but poorly thought out) excuses given by employers who weren’t paying employees the minimum wage when challenged by the taxman's officers.
What are the current rules?
The Government introduced tougher rules on minimum wage enforcement last year, which include a new naming and shaming policy, and since 7th March 2014, a higher financial penalty of up to £20,000.
As it stands, the minimum wage for workers aged 21 and over is £6.31, for those aged 18-20 it falls to £5.03, and for the under 18s it stands at £3.72. Apprentices can be paid a minimum of £2.68. Read the historical rates here.
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The worst excuses
Ten of the worst reasons given in the last 12 months are:
- An employer said a woman on the premises was not entitled to the minimum wage as she was his wife. When asked what his wife’s name was, the employer said “err.. her name, err what’s your name love?..”
- An employer told HMRC: “I don’t think my workers know anything about the minimum wage because they don’t speak English.”
- Another employer told HMRC: “When the minimum wage goes up I do increase the amount I pay a little, even if the total pay is still below the minimum wage. I don’t think it's right to ignore the rises in the minimum wage.”
- A number of employers paying rates below the national minimum wage argued that accommodation they provided workers made up for the shortfall in wages.
- Upon inspection an employer told HMRC: “I know I am paying them too little, but they are happy to work for this amount because they are getting experience.”
- An employee claimed to be just working for a few days with a view to buying the business. When HMRC checked food safety records, the employee’s name was found on historic food temperature records.
- An employer claimed they realised they were not paying employees minimum wage and had just that week increased their wages… to an hourly rate which was still below the minimum wage.
- An employer told HMRC: “It wasn’t a conscious decision to say ‘I’m not going to pay this’, but I’ve never really considered doing it because I’ve not had people come to me and say, ‘I’m not getting paid enough’ or ‘Is this the minimum wage?’”
- An employee ran out of the premises when HMRC officers arrived to check for minimum wage infringements. The same employee then returned – minus the work pinafore – pretending to be a customer.
- Another employee claimed to be a friend of the owner and only in the restaurant as they were in the area. HMRC officers returned another day to find the person in the kitchen preparing food.
What to do if you're not being paid fairly
Last year HMRC’s investigations resulted in over 26,000 people getting a share of £4 million in back pay.
Anyone who believes they are not being paid the national minimum wage can call the Pay and Work Rights Helpline, in confidence, for advice in over 100 languages on 0800 917 2368.
HMRC says that currently calls to the helpline from interns who are working for nothing, or for “expenses only”, are being fast-tracked to enforcement officers for investigation.
Use our MoneyTrack tool to keep on top of your finances.
More on jobs:
Could you live on the minimum wage?
How to write the perfect CV
How to make yourself more employable
Redundancy pay: get the biggest payout if you lose your job
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Comments
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Internship is NOT employment, by definition. That it is abused by employers does not change the definition. There is an absolute comparison with students which is NOT spurious, particularly as student grants can be given to encourage them into staying in education. For millennia, working with skilled professionals to learn their trade or craft for little or no remuneration has been perfectly acceptable. Having interns, apprentices, journeymen or whatever should at least be cost neutral to employers. There is a cost to supervision and compliance with Health and Safety law even for company visitors. If interns don't like the terms then get a proper job! Those organisations which need the progression of interns to be the next generation of paid employees would have to change.
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I'd be incredibly surprised if there are many businesses who "employ" interns out of the goodness of their heart. I would think most expect to see some value created by them. There's an argument that interns should be paid a lower minimum wage which reflects the value they bring. Admittedly less value than a full time employee, but value nevertheless. @ Electricblue : your opinion is just as valid as anyone else's, but please try to deliver it in a less aggressive manner.
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@ electricblue What part of the phrase 'minimum wage' do you not understand?? You can argue that 'interns' are not employed as much as you like, but as someone running a company that competes against other companies where 'interns' meet clients, do the work, deliver the work, and don't get their 'work checked' by anyone, I'm sick of your argument. Minimum wage helps prevent our tax money subsidizing bad employers, helps the economy and makes sure people's 'experience' of work includes one important aspect - getting paid for it ! Minimum wage for school students indeed - what spurious 'argument' are you going to come out with next??
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11 April 2014