National Minimum Wage

National Minimum Wage
102
through eliminating avoidable burdens of regulation, it aims to promote growth, innovation
and social action. The Government sees striking the right balance – a level of regulation that
promotes competition and stability without impinging on businesses’ ability to operate – as a
core element of its strategy for promoting economic growth (HM Government, 2010).
4.6 At the same time as holding to the principle of ‘simple and straightforward’ we have also held
that the wage should ‘make a difference’ for the low paid by providing an effective wage
floor with protection from exploitation. The Commission has therefore had to balance a desire
for simplicity with the need to protect vulnerable workers from exploitation. We have borne
this in mind as we have considered evidence put to us on simplification of the minimum
wage arrangements.
Evidence on Simplification
4.7 The rules for the NMW are contained in the National
Minimum Wage Act 1998, and the related sets of
“There is much scope to
regulations. However, most businesses and workers simplify employment law, but
that refer to the NMW rules do so via official guidance the National Minimum Wage is
rather than the actual statutes. Therefore, any attempt not an area where there is much
to simplify the NMW regulations needs to consider to be gained.”
official guidance as well as the statutory rules
themselves. We received a number of responses on
CBI oral evidence
the issue of simplification in the course of our
consultation process. The majority of responses either
said the regulations were simple enough already, or related to requests for better guidance
and understanding.
4.8 Many business organisations did not detect any
strong desire from members for changes to the NMW
arrangements. On a Commission visit to
Southampton, MITIE said it regarded the regulations
as straightforward as they stood. Trade unions
generally supported the current arrangements. The
Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers
(Usdaw) believed that the current regulations were
simple and easily understood, so no changes were
necessary.
“The NMW is not complicated:
all you need to know are the
birthdays of your younger
workers.”
Group HR Manager, Hastings
Hotel Group, Commission visit
to Belfast
4.9 Other employer groups, such as the Association of Convenience Stores, regarded the NMW
regulations as straightforward, but echoed the view of some that clarification was needed on
certain aspects: for example, should a member of staff who has to change into their uniform
be paid on arrival or once they are ready to start work. There were a number of other
stakeholders who also told us improvements were needed to the guidance. UNISON was
concerned at the need for better guidance in the social care sector to ensure care staff
were paid their full NMW entitlement. The United Kingdom Home Care Association (UKHCA)
told us in oral evidence that better guidance for employers, preferably specific to the home
care sector, on areas such as on-call hours and travel time would help its members.