Last week the UK government released names of an additional 233 employers who have failed to pay their staff the minimum wage since its restructure in 2015.
Health and social care employers have been affected by the changes and are required to ensure they are compliant. HMRC’s own inspections show nearly half of care companies are failing to pay the minimum wage, resulting in financial penalties.
Currently the National Minimum Wage (NMW) is set at £7.50 for staff aged 25+. This is set to rise to as much as £10 by 2020.
Research from the Resolution Foundation shows that over 10% (160,000) of all care workers in the UK are being underpaid up to £130 million less than the NMW every year, averaging £815 per worker.
It was revealed that the investigation by HMRC identified 43% of inspections at care providers were non-compliant with the minimum wage. One of the companies had failed to pay more than £1 million in pay and are now forced to compensate the employees affected.
The minimum wage underpayment is primarily down to the failure of employers to pay staff at a level that adequately covers all of their working time.
Rebecca Long Bailey, Shadow Secretary for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, said: “It is terrible that social care providers pay their employees below the national minimum wage. However, the figures released by the HMRC only touch upon deeper problem, with non-payment being far wider than the official figures indicate.
“The Government must do more to enforce NMW across all sectors and to accurately report on how each sector is doing in terms of NMW payment.”
As pressure comes on social care providers and other sectors to become 100% compliant and the government becomes more vocal in its naming and shaming, companies are looking for solutions that can ensure compliance and to mitigate the additional cost.
ShopWorks staff scheduling helps employers by providing a bespoke workforce management solution. Time and attendance, scheduling, budgeting and compliance modules combine to ensure that you not only never underpay staff for their scheduled hours, but safeguards any employee working without the correct training or visa requirements.
Our budgeting module, which is regarded as the most sophisticated of its kind, works to pre-determined budgets, so each manager can guarantee they will never spend more than allocated before approving a weekly or monthly schedule. The simple drag and drop platform allows for a clear central view and allows for easy changes if required.
