David Jackson and Pauline Smout, butchers from Sheffield, are the first employers to be successfully prosecuted under s31(1) of the National Minimum Wage Act 1998 - which means that they refused or wilfully neglected to remunerate their workers. Previous prosecutions under the Act, but mainly in relation to failure to keep proper records.
Given that underpaid workers have a civil remedy in the tribunals, and that the NMW enforcement team are (so I hear) happy to deal with minor infringements without recourse to prosecutions, their conduct must have been brazen to get as far as this. The HMRC press release is here. Anyone else think that a combined fine of £800 is a bit on the light side? It may well be that when they’ve paid the arrears/compensation they’ve not much left in the pot to pay any larger fine anyway.
From 1 October 2008, the adult minimum wage rate (for workers aged 22 or over) will increase from £5.52 to £5.73 an hour. At the same time the Youth Development Rate (for workers aged 18 to 21) will rise from £4.60 to £4.77 an hour and the minimum wage for 16-17 year olds will increase from £3.40 to £3.53 an hour.
The Low Pay Commission - an independent body which advises the government on the National Minimum Wage - has recommended ever since the inception of the NMW that the adult bracket be brought down to 21 years old. Each time they’ve been knocked back by government statistics that the Commission say actually proves their point rather nicely. From this year’s report (their emphasis):
We believe that the latest evidence reinforces our view that lowering the entitlement to the adult rate to the age of 21 will not have a detrimental impact on their employment prospects and therefore recommend again that 21 year olds should be entitled to the adult rate of the National Minimum Wage. Should the Government maintain its opposition to this proposal, we would welcome an indication of the exact nature of its opposition and a specification of what would need to change for the Government to adopt a positive approach to this recommendation.