From January 2010, HMRC’s new Dynamic Response Team will work on the most high profile and complex National Minimum Wage cases faced by HMRC, particularly in areas where employers are using migrant labour to undercut competitors by paying below the minimum wage. The team, made up of highly-trained specialist officers, is funded from the Department of Communities and Local Government’s Migration Impacts Fund, a £70 million Government fund that is paid for by a levy on migrant workers.
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Posted January 15th, 2010 | No Comments »
The 2009 Pre-Budget Report documents announced that HMRC and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) are to consult early in 2010 on proposed changes to the National Minimum Wage Regulations to tackle the issues raised by so-called “travel schemes”.
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Posted December 18th, 2009 | No Comments »
In a judgement delivered by the London Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) on 25 November 2009 in the case Hamilton House Medical Ltd v Hillier, the employment judge ruled that, where an employee’s hours of work are such that only premium rates of pay are paid, the basic rate on which those premium rates are based continues to be the basic rate for National Minimum Wage (NMW) purposes.
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Posted December 4th, 2009 | No Comments »
With effect from 1 October 2009, regulation 31 of the National Minimum Wage Regulations 1999 was amended so that any payments made by customers by way of a service charge, tip, gratuity or cover charge may not count towards the national minimum wage (NMW). Each worker’s pay, excluding such customer payments, must meet the minimum wage requirement.
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Posted October 8th, 2009 | No Comments »
Minimum wage rates for agricultural workers in England and Wales come into force from 1 October 2009, at the same time as the 2009 National Minimum Wage rates.
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Posted September 23rd, 2009 | No Comments »
The Government has asked the Low Pay Commission (LPC) to make recommendations for minimum wage rates in 2010 and, as appropriate, for 2011. In addition, detailed consideration will be given to the accommodation offset and to the introduction of a minimum rate for apprentices.
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Posted September 9th, 2009 | No Comments »
The decision of the London Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) on 24 June 2009 in the case Smith v Oxfordshire Learning Disability NHS Trust, clarifies the status for National Minimum Wage (NMW) purposes of “sleep-in payments”.
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Posted August 5th, 2009 | No Comments »
Following a meeting of the Agricultural Wages Board for England and Wales on 15-17 June, the following proposals were issued to take effect from 1 October 2009. Views on the proposals are invited up to 20 July, following which the Board will meet again to decide whether or not to confirm its proposals.
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Posted July 8th, 2009 | No Comments »
In order to fulfil its promise to exclude any tips whatsoever from counting towards the National Minimum Wage, the government is removing just seven words from the National Minimum Wage Regulations 1999.
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Posted June 17th, 2009 | No Comments »
In an Impact Assessment document on the increases to the National Minimum Wage (NMW) from October 2009, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) has announced that the Regulations will be amended to exempt Erasmus students and Comenius assistants from the NMW. The Erasmus and Comenius programmes are a part of the European Commission’s Leonardo da Vinci programme, which funds work placements for trainees, workers and staff across 31 EU and other countries. An exemption from the NMW for Leonardo participants was included in the Regulations in October 2007.
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Posted June 17th, 2009 | No Comments »
