Policy News Journal - 2015-16

One of our recent polls asked about the awareness of penalties for not paying the National Minimum Wage and we were pleased to see favourable results.

Throughout July we ran a poll on the CIPP website asking: “Did you know that penalties for not paying the National Minimum Wage are now applied per employee?”

72% of respondents said Yes and the remaining 28% said No. However of all those respondents 100% (130) now do know that penalties for not paying the National Minimum Wage are now applied per employee!

In all seriousness it is very encouraging to see that awareness is high. There have been several recent publications on the National Minimum Wage, not least the new campaign giving employers the chance to self- correct without being penalised. If you need a refresher, see our related news items below:

 National Minimum Wage penalty to be calculated per worker - 2 June 2015  The National Living Wage - 14 July 2015  National Minimum Wage offenders named and shamed - 30 July 2015  New National Minimum Wage campaign - 31 July 2015  Consultation on the National Minimum Wage rates - 31 July 2015

Hair and Beauty sector given an opportunity to check it; fix it; change it

12 August 2015

Employees and employers in the hair and beauty sector are being given the opportunity to check that they are receiving or are paying the correct amount of National Minimum Wage, in advance of increased enforcement work by HMRC. This campaign launched on 29 July, will run for up to six months and offers the opportunity to employers in the sector to check that they are paying NMW correctly and, if not, then put right any under payments of pay to their staff and change their processes to ensure that they remove the risk of underpaying the correct rates of NMW in the future. “This innovative campaign is about helping employees who have been underpaid get the money they are legally due back into their pockets. It will help them understand where they can report underpaying employers confidentially. “It is also about helping employers check if they are making mistakes, and self-correct if they are. Some employers will need a bit of a reminder to check they are getting it right, and some will need stronger action from us, so we are bringing in more enforcement officers to support this campaign. Jennie Granger, HMRC Director General of Enforcement and Compliance, said:

I urge all employers and employees in the sector to check that salary is being paid correctly, as we will use these extra resources to find and investigate where it is not. Check you’re paying NMW correctly – it’s worth it."

Widespread enforcement work focussed on Hair and Beauty businesses will start in early 2016. Anyone who hasn’t come forward to notify by then, or who hasn’t checked and corrected any underpayment, will have lost the opportunity to use the campaign. The government, in the Summer Budget, announced extra funding to expand HMRC’s data analytics and enforcement teams and this new campaign is the first step in expanding HMRC’s compliance activities using smart data.

This campaign aims to prompt employers in the hair and beauty sector to:

 Make sure they pay employees the National Minimum Wage in future.  Pay employees what they are owed (based on today’s National Minimum Wage rates).  Use the online notification form to tell HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) about any National Minimum Wage arrears that are due, or call the helpline on 0300 123 2671.  Use the online disclosure form to tell HMRC once the National Minimum Wage arrears have been paid.

CIPP Policy News Journal

25/04/2016, Page 241 of 453

Made with FlippingBook - Online magazine maker