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Are you being paid the national minimum wage?

13

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  • It said WH Smith were fined because of their asking staff to buy specific items of their own uniform clothing - my company have said we are only to wear shoes of a specific style and colour and that they don’t provide them. So to me is the same as what WH Smith were doing. Is that right? I’ve emailed our HR Dept to ask but not heard back.
  • I was reading Martins weekly email and I read with interest the section regarding companies not paying staff the minimum wage, especially the part below : - 

    "5. Employers can't 'top you up' with tips or overtime

    These CAN'T be used to 'top up' your pay – any tips or commission payments must be on top of the legal minimum wage for your age, regardless of whether they're paid through your payroll, or given to you by customers. If your contract says that you'll get a base salary plus commission, your 'base salary' must be AT LEAST the national minimum wage rate for your age.

    If you're paid at a higher rate for overtime or certain shifts (such as night shifts or bank holidays), the extra amount you're paid can't be used to 'top up' your pay to meet the minimum wage. Your standard hourly rate must be AT LEAST the national minimum wage rate for your age."


    Can I confirm that the part I've put in bold and italics is correct? I currently work for a furniture retailer in Scotland and my basic salary is, and always has been, less than minimum wage. The explanation I've had for this is that with commission I will be earning over the minimum for any pay period. If the above is true then I expect my company has been failing to correctly pay the majority of its sales staff. Can anyone say if the info. in the email is correct or not? Thanks :

  • Alderbank
    Alderbank Posts: 3,610 Forumite
    Eighth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    chris_d9 said:
    I was reading Martins weekly email and I read with interest the section regarding companies not paying staff the minimum wage, especially the part below : - 

    "5. Employers can't 'top you up' with tips or overtime

    These CAN'T be used to 'top up' your pay – any tips or commission payments must be on top of the legal minimum wage for your age, regardless of whether they're paid through your payroll, or given to you by customers. If your contract says that you'll get a base salary plus commission, your 'base salary' must be AT LEAST the national minimum wage rate for your age.

    If you're paid at a higher rate for overtime or certain shifts (such as night shifts or bank holidays), the extra amount you're paid can't be used to 'top up' your pay to meet the minimum wage. Your standard hourly rate must be AT LEAST the national minimum wage rate for your age."


    Can I confirm that the part I've put in bold and italics is correct? I currently work for a furniture retailer in Scotland and my basic salary is, and always has been, less than minimum wage. The explanation I've had for this is that with commission I will be earning over the minimum for any pay period. If the above is true then I expect my company has been failing to correctly pay the majority of its sales staff. Can anyone say if the info. in the email is correct or not? Thanks :

    Your employer is correct.

    Acas is a more reliable source than a website written by journalists.

    Acas words it quite well. It says
    Commission

    Commission counts towards minimum wage.

    Your total pay including commission must give you the minimum wage each time you're paid.

    Your employer must 'top up' your pay if you have not made enough commission to earn the minimum wage.

    The above applies to each payment period, so if you are paid monthly your employer must pay you at least minimum wage each month
  • NorthantsPete81
    NorthantsPete81 Posts: 76 Forumite
    Fifth Anniversary 10 Posts
    edited 4 July 2023 pm31 8:42PM
    I think the law needs changing for being on call. A judge in america ruled that a fireman who was on call 24/7 had no free time which is illegal and got paid full time wage for being on call because he had time restraints.

    ALL people in IT have a response time required so you cant go camping or shopping in case you get called out and have to log on and spend upto 24 hours fixing problems... sometimes there is no backup so its JUST YOU supporting multiple businesses out of hours as a cheap way for big business to cover their services without paying for a 24/7 rota.

     we get paid £2 an hour to be on call yet if we dont respond in a certain time or the customer doesn't get a fix you get disciplinary action, so i put it that we are actually on shift and should be paid full time wage like a night shift and not just the time we work but the time we are acting as a call centre.

    the company just brush it under the carpet saying " it doesn't happen that often" or " we had no priority 1 this week so once again we dont need to pay you time" yet here we all are nervous we cant go anywhere in case the phone goes off. Ive had guys who cancel kids plays or football training because " we may have to work".. that to me says our free time is affected.

    To me, we are like the fireman, if we have a responsibility to work within a time frame we should be paid full time. it cannot impact our free time, which it does , otherwise you're on company time.

    Law says nothing, it just says " check your contract" ..and those contracts are slavery, in my eyes, they can make it up as they go along 


  • What you are outlining is more fundamental than just the particular law on NMW and goes to the heart of employment law, contract law, industrial relations and the historical development of employment practices in England and Wales. It's far wider a topic than can be condensed into a thread, but if interested, I highly recommend the work of Professor Mark Freedland, particularly his book. The Personal Employment Contract 
  • Andy_L
    Andy_L Posts: 12,961 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    I think the law needs changing for being on call. A judge in america ruled that a fireman who was on call 24/7 had no free time which is illegal and got paid full time wage for being on call because he had time restraints.

    ALL people in IT have a response time required so you cant go camping or shopping in case you get called out and have to log on and spend upto 24 hours fixing problems... sometimes there is no backup so its JUST YOU supporting multiple businesses out of hours as a cheap way for big business to cover their services without paying for a 24/7 rota.

     we get paid £2 an hour to be on call yet if we dont respond in a certain time or the customer doesn't get a fix you get disciplinary action, so i put it that we are actually on shift and should be paid full time wage like a night shift and not just the time we work but the time we are acting as a call centre.

    the company just brush it under the carpet saying " it doesn't happen that often" or " we had no priority 1 this week so once again we dont need to pay you time" yet here we all are nervous we cant go anywhere in case the phone goes off. Ive had guys who cancel kids plays or football training because " we may have to work".. that to me says our free time is affected.

    To me, we are like the fireman, if we have a responsibility to work within a time frame we should be paid full time. it cannot impact our free time, which it does , otherwise you're on company time.

    Law says nothing, it just says " check your contract" ..and those contracts are slavery, in my eyes, they can make it up as they go along 


    Although if they did agree to that you can bet that they'd fill up your shift with work rather than you having the limited freedom you have now if no calls come in.
  • How should the minimum wage rules work for instance when working for a local council during an election vote count, where you are paid a fixed amount regardless of the amount of hours you end up working? I've never worked less than the amount of hours expected but have on occasions worked 4 to 5 hours more than expected, which then takes the hourly rate below minimum wage.
  • How should the minimum wage rules work for instance when working for a local council during an election vote count, where you are paid a fixed amount regardless of the amount of hours you end up working? I've never worked less than the amount of hours expected but have on occasions worked 4 to 5 hours more than expected, which then takes the hourly rate below minimum wage.
    Are you an employee of the Council for that election work only or do you do other work for them?

  • I have a friend who works for tesco - they currently get £11.07 an hour but are being told they won't be getting a pay rise until april 28th.
    Is this legal? 
    I thought the new minimum wage took effect from april 1st.
    Can anyone shed any light on this?
  • General_Grant
    General_Grant Posts: 5,165 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    I have a friend who works for tesco - they currently get £11.07 an hour but are being told they won't be getting a pay rise until april 28th.
    Is this legal? 
    I thought the new minimum wage took effect from april 1st.
    Can anyone shed any light on this?
    As £11.07 is more than the current statutory minimum, presumably the payrise will also be above the new rate effective from 1 April. 
    Meeting the requirement to pay at least national minimums depends on the average pay during the pay reference period.
    So it probably depends on exactly when the new Tesco rate applies.
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