It is not uncommon, for employers acting in good faith to be unaware that they are paying workers below the required rates. Shift work, security checks, travel time, apprenticeships, employee expenditure on clothing and equipment, salary sacrifice schemes, and deductions from net pay can all play a part in determining what constitutes pay for National Minimum Wage (NMW) purposes.

Grant Thornton’s employment tax specialist, Matt Parfitt, will be in Cardiff on 9^th April to explain the complexities of the NMW regulations and how these may affect your business. The event will be of interest to Finance Directors, HR Directors or Payroll professionals as Matt has extensive experience of dealing with the intricacies underpinning HMRC requirements and he will be looking to share insights and intelligence on the following popular concerns:

• An overview of the NMW rules
• Entitlement to NMW and different types of worker
• Relevant pay, deductions and working time
• Key risk areas and sector challenges
• What happens if HMRC investigate
• Implications of getting things wrong

Talking about the event Matt said,

‘Most breaches appear to be due to administrative errors or quirks in the regulations regarding how national minimum wage and working time must be calculated. From experience, we are confident our event will help to increase awareness of mistakes employers may unintentionally be making. There will be interactive debate to consider solutions available to take corrective action and address the risks of which they may be unaware.’

He went on to say,

‘The strict rules will almost inevitably lead to any employer found by HMRC to be non-compliant being ‘named and shamed’ publicly, in addition to having to make good any historic underpayments to workers at current rates and pay a fine of up to 200% of the underpayment. It appears that HMRC are identifying errors which are not necessarily evident to employers until these are highlighted by HMRC.’

All employers need to comply but some of the higher risk sectors where non-compliance is more prevalent include:

• Retail and Hospitality
• Food preparation
• Care providers
• Sports clubs
• Manufacturers

Those wishing to attend the event can find details here.

If you are a Finance Director, HR Director or Payroll professional you need to understand and action the compliance behind these questions … Are you aware of the risks that can unintentionally reduce pay below minimum rates? Are you inadvertently breaching the rules? Do you understand the NMW regulation quirks?