Minimum Wage Obligation

Whether or not you believe in a National Minimum Wage, you have to pay it to those of your staff who are eligible.

HMRC has started a £1.7m campaign to remind employers of their obligation after investigators uncovered many instances of underpayment.

As part of the publicity for the campaign HMRC has released a list of excuses given by employers for their misdemeanour.

Here’s three of our favourites:

• “I’ve got an agreement with my workers that I won’t pay them the National Minimum Wage; they understand and they even signed a contract to this effect.”
• “My workers are often just on standby when there are no customers in the shop; I only pay them for when they’re actually serving someone.”
• “The employee wasn’t a good worker so I didn’t think they deserved to be paid the National Minimum Wage.”

As a reminder the current minimum wage for workers aged 25 or over is £7.20 rising to £7.50 on April 1st 2017 (take a look at Minimum Wage Rates 2017 for full details).

If you are concerned about managing wages and payroll in your business why not set up a confidential discussion with Lewis Smith & Co. We offer expert advice and a hands-on payroll bureau to help you manage all of your payroll issues.

Call 01384 235549 or email info@lewissmith.com today.

Lewis Smith & Co. – Chartered Accountants for businesses across Brierley Hill