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By Armstrong Watson

16th January 2017

Revealed...the most bizarre excuses for underpaying the national minimum wage

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Last week I wanted to raise the issue on the importance of paying the National Minimum and National Living Wages.  I stated excuses were not acceptable, but some employers do try.  HMRC has published some of the worst excuses given which include:

  1. The employee wasn’t a good worker so I didn’t think they deserved to be paid the National Minimum Wage.

  2. It’s part of UK culture not to pay young workers for the first 3 months as they have to prove their ‘worth’ first.

  3. I thought it was ok to pay foreign workers below the National Minimum Wage as they aren’t British and therefore don’t have the right to be paid it.

  4. She doesn’t deserve the National Minimum Wage because she only makes the teas and sweeps the floors.

  5. 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.

  6. My accountant and I speak a different language – he doesn’t understand me and that’s why he doesn’t pay my workers the correct wages.

  7. My workers like to think of themselves as being self-employed and the National Minimum Wage doesn’t apply to people who work for themselves.

  8. 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.

  9. My employee is still learning so they aren’t entitled to the National Minimum Wage.

  10. The National Minimum Wage doesn’t apply to my business.

 

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/revealed-most-bizarre-excuses-for-underpaying-staff-the-national-minimum-wage

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