Less than minimum wage

[jimmy87notts]

Im working at a caravan site on behalf of another company. They are only paying me a certain amount per caravan i clean. 15 hours a week im only getting around £50 a week which equate to around £3 per hour. I was told when i got the job it would be £111 per week. Ive told them becuase im dyspraxic theres limits as to what my body and brain can do.

what im asking is, can employers do this? paying less than minimum wage? Im fairly sure this is illegal.

[Captain_Ludd]

Unless your being paid cash in hand (in which case unfortunately I don’t think you have any come back) or your on the first year of an apprenticeship if your over 21 the national minimum wage is £6.19 per hour I've just been reading it here https://www.gov.uk/national-minimum-wage.

[AlleyCat]

What the company is doing is indeed illegal. The national minimum wage is there for a reason- any employer who insists on paying less is breaking the law and should be reported to HMRC. If you are being paid cash in hand it is also very likely that the employer is not paying national insurance contributions for his employees- if reported to HMRC, he would be the one in trouble not you.

[maria]

Sheesh, if you ARE being paid cash in hand, Jimmy, be very careful about reporting it!!! AlleyCat may well be right about HMRC, I don't know. But if you're being paid benefits too and get caught you'll be in deep sh*t. From what I've read in the papers, it's always the person working without declaring it who gets their money stopped/fined/jailed. Never yet heard of the employer, without whom of course the employee can't work illegally in the first place, being prosecuted.

[jimmy87notts]

No im not being payed cash in hand thankfully. I was only warned about this company after i started working there. People have had problems with them for years. Just today 4 people walked out because we didnt get the right pay and the jobcentre know im working there. Im still signing on though as im under 15 hours a week.

[Captain_Ludd]

Basically mate your being ripped off by this company, having said this I guess its better to have a job rip of or not and still be able to sign on.
Personally Id stick it as long as it took me to find another job that paid at least minimum wage, you now have experience as a cleaner and any reputable cleaning company will pay that.

[Catwoman42]

It is against the law to work for less than minimum wage. The National Minimum Wage council can take the company to an employment tribunal on your behalf. It is also illegal to not issue a wage slip or pay national insurance and could lead to problems with benefits as some require an NI contribution. Please see a citizens advice bureau