Many employers caught not paying the minimum wage believed that the law did not apply to small firms, according to a government department.
Following yesterday’s announcement of £200 fines for firms that flaunt minimum wage rules, HM Revenue and Customs has published a list of the top ten worst excuses given to its enforcement teams.
They are:
· I only took him on as a favour
· The workers can't speak English
· He's over 65, so the national minimum wage doesn't apply
· She's on benefits - if you add those to her pay, it totals the minimum wage
· They can't cope on their own and it's more than they would get in their own country
· He's disabled
· I didn't think it applied to small employers
· I didn't think the workers were worth minimum wage
· But she only wanted £3 an hour
· He doesn’t deserve it - he's a total waste of space
“By far the majority of employers are honest and scrupulous, so instances of non-payment are very much in the minority,” said paymaster general, Dawn Primarolo.
“But this list shows that there are still some rogue employers out there willing to flout the law, which is why our enforcement teams are hard at work across the UK to ensure that everyone is getting paid at least the national minimum wage.”
© Crimson Business Ltd. 2007
