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Low Pay Commission
8th Floor
Oxford House
76 Oxford Street
London
W1D 1BS
General enquiries:
020 7467 7207
Press enquiries:
020 7467 7279
E-mail:
lpc@lowpay.gov.uk
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Feburary 2000: The National Minimum Wage
The Story So Far
The National Minimum Wage
Second Report of the Low Pay Commission
Recommendations
Younger Workers
- The Government should include 21 year olds in the coverage of the full National Minimum Wage from June 2000.
- The Government should amend the regulations so that National Traineeships are treated in the same way as Modern Apprenticeships.
Compliance and Enforcement
Recommendations
- The Government should continue to publicise the National Minimum Wage widely and, in particular, promote it effectively among the ethnic minority communities.
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The Government should fund a small number of community-based pilot projects in areas where workers are likely to be at most risk of non-compliance.
Suggestions
- In the medium term, the Government could consider the Inland Revenue working in partnership with employer and worker organisations to enforce compliance on a sectoral basis.
Definition of Workers, Pay and Working Time
Recommendations
- The Government should issue further detailed guidance on the definition of worker which is geared specifically to the needs of the voluntary sector.
- The Government should review the guidance on benefits for workers with disabilities who are in receipt of 'therapeutic earnings', with the aim of making it more coherent and accessible.
- The relevant departments and agencies should work together to produce, and widely disseminate, clear guidance on what constitutes worker status for individuals undertaking therapeutic activity to ensure that they are not adversely affected by confusion about the legal position.
- The Government should address anomalies in the coverage of students to make the treatment of postgraduates and, where feasible, students on EU/EEA higher education courses the same as undergraduates.
- The accommodation deductor should be retained at its present rate and its level considered again when the National Minimum Wage is reviewed.
- The Government should investigate whether the regulations relating to the deductor could be simplified to make compliance easier for employers. At the least, simpler guidance should be issued.
- The Government should produce specific guidance to emphasise the difference between 'sleepovers', where the assumption must be that the worker would not normally be wakened and where an allowance is usual practice, and 'on-call' and 'standby' arrangements, where a worker is required to be at the workplace outside of normal working hours with the expectation that he or she will be required to work, for which the National Minimum Wage is payable.
- The Government should ensure that the regulations on travelling time properly reflect the policy intention, which is set out in the guidance: the National Minimum Wage must be paid 'when a worker ... is travelling in connection with his work during normal working hours or the normal range of hours that the worker does', and, if necessary, amend the regulations at a suitable opportunity.
Suggestions
- The Government should consider the coverage of seafarers in any future review of marine policy. If it is to be reviewed, we would welcome consultation.
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The application of the 'fair estimate' and 'daily averaging' agreements should be kept under review with the aim of ensuring necessary protection is provided to workers while minimising burdens on business.
Government Funding
Recommendations
- The Government should ensure that adequate funding is made available to meet the additional costs caused by the introduction of the National Minimum Wage in social care.
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Where necessary, the Government should fully meet the additional costs caused by the introduction of the National Minimum Wage to the Supported Employment Programme.
To Chairman's Foreward
To Report Summary
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