National Minimum Wage – inadvertent breaches are easier than you think!

The National Minimum Wage (NMW) was introduced in April 1999 as a way of tackling poverty. Although the run up to its introduction was not uncontroversial, it is now a vital part of employment law and any breach, for whatever reason, is wholly unacceptable. When considered in this context, it makes it all the more surprising that household names such as Tesco, Pizza Hut and Superdrug were recently named and shamed by the government for not paying their workers the National Minimum Wage.

Perhaps even more shockingly, more than 100 companies investigated between 2016 and 2018 were found to have failed to pay millions of pounds to thousands of workers. It is vital for businesses to recognise that they must keep up to date with increases to the NMW and that regardless of their intentions or reasons, there is no absolutely no excuse for breaching the rules in respect of the same.

For the avoidance of doubt, the NMW is currently increased every April, with a different rate applying to different categories of workers. The categories are:

• Apprentices (provided that they are aged under 19 or aged 19 or over in the first year of their apprenticeship);
• Those aged under 18;
• Those aged 18-20; and
• Those aged 21-24.

Workers aged 25 and over are entitled to the National Living Wage (NLW).

Breaches can occur, not only when the NMW rate increases with inflation each year, but more commonly, when an employee has a birthday, or completes part of their apprenticeship.

Keeping up with the corresponding rate for each employee at any given time can be a challenge. To combat this problem, we have developed an innovative HR portal (HR Genie) to complement our existing employment law services. HR Genie is an employee database and at the touch of a button, you can access your employees’ personnel files, holiday and absence records, key dates such as the expiry of probation periods or work permits and produce various reports, including payroll. Importantly, the portal will send you a notification if an employee has a birthday coming upor is earning below the NMW.

Our short video explains in a nutshell the key features of HR Genie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjX9545OwSM

For further information or to arrange a short, free no obligation remote demonstration of our portal, please contact Lianne Payne, Senior Associate Solicitor and Head of Employment, via email at lianne@askewslegal.co