{"id":25035,"date":"2014-06-09T07:42:12","date_gmt":"2014-06-09T06:42:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/?p=25035"},"modified":"2014-06-09T07:42:12","modified_gmt":"2014-06-09T06:42:12","slug":"hmrc-and-the-minimum-wage-more-questions-than-answers-on-why-some-abusers-arent-named-and-shamed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/2014\/06\/09\/hmrc-and-the-minimum-wage-more-questions-than-answers-on-why-some-abusers-arent-named-and-shamed\/","title":{"rendered":"HMRC and the minimum wage: more questions than answers on why some abusers aren’t named and shamed"},"content":{"rendered":"

HMRC has published a list of minimum wage offenders this morning<\/a>. It has responsibility for policing enforcement of the minimum wage on behalf of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.<\/p>\n

This list poses more questions than answers. The first, and obvious question, is why it has received relatively little attention in the press. \u00a0There are stories, \u00a0but \u00a0I have \u00a0seen nothing like the level of interest that HMRC's \u00a0list of top tax evaders attracted and yet in a very real way \u00a0the abuse of the minimum wage is at least as significant in imposing real cost on both individuals and society at large.<\/p>\n

Second, there has to be real doubt about how this list was chosen. \u00a0As the BBC note, one Premier League football club \u00a0was apparently found guilty of abuse of the minimum wage last year and had to pay \u00a327,500 \u00a0in wages as a result, split between 3,000 people. \u00a0You could, of course, argue \u00a0as a consequence that \u00a0 this means that each worker only benefited by about \u00a39 \u00a0and as a result that this\u00a0settlement falls into the ' insignificant' \u00a0category but one of the employees named by HMRC \u00a0did in fact underpay \u00a3149 split between 15 workers, \u00a0or under \u00a310 each. \u00a0In that context the Premier League football club was of much more interest, but was not named. \u00a0Why was that?<\/p>\n

And why is it that a settlement of \u00a3149 is apparently enough to put you in the top 25 worst offenders \u00a0of minimum wage? \u00a0Does that imply that HMRC is simply not doing enough? \u00a0Or is it that it does not have enough resource? \u00a0Or is it that despite promises made last year this years budget for tackling minimum wage abuse has, I am reliably informed, gone down by 3%?<\/p>\n

The one thing I can say with considerable confidence is that it is not because there are no cases to find. Abuse of the minimum wage amongst outsourced workers is notorious and whilst one, recent, case will undoubtedly help them when it comes to payment for travelling time \u00a0I'm sure that there is much to do in this area, and yet there was no mention of any sort of such employees \u00a0or their employers in the list published. Again, why was that when this is so well-known as an area for abuse? \u00a0Is HMRC turning a blind eye, \u00a0or have they been told not to embarrass the privatisation of outsourcing process by drawing attention to the fact that this is only viable when workers are exploited?<\/p>\n

The minimum wage \u00a0is a vital part of the attack on poverty. It is, of course, too low: we all know that it should be raised to the level of a living wage, but whichever level it is set at it is vital that sufficient resources are dedicated to ensuring that it is paid, and that the right abusers are named if that is considered to have an appropriate deterrent effect. Letting off large employers, and those that might be conflicted by political preference indicate a system that is not being run equitably and that is an affront to the whole spirit of the minimum wage. It also confirms what so many \u00a0small and medium-size enterprises think, which is that HMRC is set against them.<\/p>\n

As on so many other issues, HMRC \u00a0have got to do better. \u00a0Right now there are no signs that it will.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

HMRC has published a list of minimum wage offenders this morning. It has responsibility for policing enforcement of the minimum wage on behalf of the
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