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Making a Constructive Dismissal
Compensation for Unfair Dismissal
Employers, Employees and Maternity Leave
Absent From Work and Natural Disasters
Flexible Working in Employment
Employers With Employees Working From Home
Social Workers Licensing Requirements
Unpaid Internships and Employment Law
Hotel Cleaners Paid By Rooms Cleaned
Medical Evidence in Disciplinaries
Employee Giving Company Bad Name
Employer Access to Medical Records
Employment Checks for Minor Criminal Convictions
Legal Issues Working With Children and Vulnerable Adults
Child Abuse Overseas UK Employment Law
British Workers Rights Over Foreigners
Blacklisting Trade Union Members
Employment Agency Withholding Pay
Employment Agency Withholding Pay
Building Work Health and Safety
Driving for a Living and the Law
The national minimum wage is a legal right covering almost all workers in the United Kingdom to prevent unduly low pay and also to create a level playing field for employers.
The current rate for the national minimum wage is as follows:
The main rate is for workers over the age of 22 and is currently set at £5.80 per hour
For workers aged between 18 and 21 the rate is currently set at £4.83 per hour
For workers who are above school leaving age but under 18 (i.e. workers aged 16 or 17) the rate is currently set at £3.57 per hour
Please note the above figures are correct as of March 2010.
If a worker is not being paid the national minimum wage they can make contact with the authorities through the Pay and Work Rights helpline. All suspected cases of non-compliance with the national minimum wage will be investigated and workers who are not receiving the national minimum wage can claim it through an employment tribunal or through a civil court.
If a worker is dismissed for asserting their right to be paid the national minimum wage they will be seen as being unfairly dismissed and will be able to take their case to an employment tribunal.
The vast majority of adult workers in the UK will be able to claim to be paid the national minimum wage unless they are genuinely self employed.
Please note that this right does not extend to the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man.
For the purpose of calculating entitled to the national minimum wage workers can include the following:
Full-time workers
Part-time workers
Casual labourers
Agency workers
Piece workers which can include homeowners
Workers are not required to have a written contract to be entitled to be paid the national minimum wage.
Almost all legal workers in the UK are entitled to the national minimum wage; there are limited exceptions, however, which include the following:
People who are genuinely self employed
People who are voluntary workers
Apprentices under the age of 19 or if they are over the age of 19 are in their first year of an apprenticeship
Workers who are still of compulsory school age
Students on a work placement of less than one year that forms part of a further education or higher education course
Residential members of a charitable community, the purpose of which is to practice or promote a belief of a religious, or similar, nature
Those employed in a Job Centre Plus Work Trial – only for the first six weeks of the trial
Those taking part in government employment schemes
There are four types of work for national minimum wage purposes. They are as follows:
Time work
Salaried-hours work
Output work
Unmeasured work
A time worker is paid according to set or varying hours or periods of time worked. For example a worker in a shop paid an hourly rate for a certain amount of hours worked in a week will be a time worker.
A salaried-hours worker is paid for a predetermined number of minimum hours a year and is contractually entitled to an annual salary for those hours paid in equal installments. For example a worker in a bank paid a yearly salary will be a salaried-hours worker.
An output worker is paid according to each piece produced or task performed, but has no fixed hours of work. Output work can also be termed commission or piece work. An example of an output worker would be a builder working on a commission basis for a particular job.
Output workers are entitled to the national minimum wage for all hours worked and if they are rated output workers a fair piece rate.
An unmeasured worker is paid a set amount for a task or for working a certain length of time such as a week. An example of an unmeasured worker may be a building worker who is paid for a week’s work rather than on an hourly rate.
Employers can choose whether to pay an unmeasured worker for every hour worked or to enter into a daily average agreement that will state the realistic daily average number of hours to be worked. Special rules will apply if a daily average agreement is decided upon as the course of action.
All employers are required to keep sufficient records to show that they are complying with the national minimum wage requirements.
If an employer is found not to be keeping sufficient records they will be guilty of a criminal offence and will be fined accordingly.
For many employers existing payroll and business records will be deemed sufficient and there will be no need to maintain separate records for national minimum wage records.
It is up to the individual employer to decide what will constitute sufficient records depending upon the nature of the business. Sufficient records may consist of the following:
All payments to workers
Payments for overtime and shifts
Absences
Contracts and agreements between employers and employees
Workers dates of birth
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