fimbo Posted December 18, 2011 Share Posted December 18, 2011 can a member of staff be contracted to work a minimum of 16 hours - for a fixed price, and when the hourly rate is worked out it comes out below minimum wage ? this cant be right can it ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fredbear Posted December 18, 2011 Share Posted December 18, 2011 No everybody must be paid a minimum wage irrespective of hours worked. This is the law, but it does differ in rates depending on age. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inge Posted December 18, 2011 Share Posted December 18, 2011 As fimbo says.. when worked out to hourly it still has to comply with minimum wages.. as age has a bearing on this it needs to be taken into consideration as well. Acas or citizens advice should be able to help.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fimbo Posted December 18, 2011 Author Share Posted December 18, 2011 thats what i thought, she is over 21 -so the minimum wage is £6.08. if you are required to work 16 hours to claim WTC, do all those 16 hours need to be paid employment ? we have a situation whereby a member of staff needs at least 16 hrs per week , she says this will then entitle them to claim WTC, we cannot afford to pay them any extra, the committee have said she could work the extra hours on a voluntary basis -but her contract would state 16 hours -but her salary would remain the same (she currently works 13 hrs a week -so needs another 3) she would therefore be working 3 hours a week for no extra pay it all seems a little 'shady' to me -would this not be seen as fraudulant claiming of WTC ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inge Posted December 18, 2011 Share Posted December 18, 2011 thats what i thought, she is over 21 -so the minimum wage is £6.08. if you are required to work 16 hours to claim WTC, do all those 16 hours need to be paid employment ? we have a situation whereby a member of staff needs at least 16 hrs per week , she says this will then entitle them to claim WTC, we cannot afford to pay them any extra, the committee have said she could work the extra hours on a voluntary basis -but her contract would state 16 hours -but her salary would remain the same (she currently works 13 hrs a week -so needs another 3) she would therefore be working 3 hours a week for no extra pay it all seems a little 'shady' to me -would this not be seen as fraudulant claiming of WTC ? Often had an issue with staff and WTC.. we worked out that it had to be in paid employment so the voluntary hours should not count.. I did once add half an hour to an employee for this as she was working 15.5 a week and could not get it, so we found half an hour for her to work but we did pay her for it too.. I think it would be a fraudulent claim for wtc.. while they think they may be helping it could cause issues if someone else noticed and complained.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redjayne Posted December 18, 2011 Share Posted December 18, 2011 and wouldn't WTC query why she was being paid below minimum wage ( if she was working 16 hours paid as they would assume but only getting paid 13) then the committee would be in trouble anyway - either way they will be on dodgy ground as will she . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fimbo Posted January 11, 2012 Author Share Posted January 11, 2012 back again !! - had a rather 'interesting ' meeting with the commitee re this issue , and was informed that the member of staff in question has been given the hours -she will now be paid a salaried amount per week and must work a minimum of 16 hours. her pay will remain the same -but she will be working more hours, i questioned how they can do this as when its worked out to an hourly rate it is below minimum wage. i was told that when holiday pay and other benefits are taken into account she does not earn less than min wage. so -my next question is -can holiday pay be taken into account when calculating minimum wage ?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diesel10 Posted January 11, 2012 Share Posted January 11, 2012 She needs to be paid the minimum wage + her holiday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SueT Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 She needs to be paid the minimum wage + her holiday. There have been so many posts lately about people not receiving their statutory payments in child care.It really annoys me - employers must be made aware of the law so those of you who are not being paid correctly must fight for your rights i.e. minimum wage must be paid for contracted hours worked, and holiday pay is in addition, at the same rate of pay at the rate of 5.6 weeks per year which can be calculated on a pro rata basis for those who work term time only. Staff who work term time only do not have to be paid 5.6 weeks Holiday Pay - this is for staff who work 52 weeks a year. Good luck to all of you in this position - and fight for your rights!! Sue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HappyMaz Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 Staff who work term time only do not have to be paid 5.6 weeks Holiday Pay - this is for staff who work 52 weeks a year. Gosh Sue I thought everyone was entitled to 5.6 weeks' holiday pay based on the number of hours they work irrespective of whether they work term time only. With regard to the OP I think the WTC people would ask why the claimant was not being paid at minimum wage rate for the 16 hours they work in the setting. Unless of course the salary being paid to this employee is sufficiently high to produce the minimum wage rate for those 16 hours? I don't think this issue is confined to our workforce sector however - my dear other half works in the IT industry and traditionally he has been paid an annual salary with a standard working week, Monday to Friday 9-5ish. However it has always been the case that he worked whatever hours were needed to get the job done, with no overtime being paid. So long as the annual salary when divided by the number of hours results in an hourly salary at or above the minimum wage, then in theory there is no problem with this as an approach provided the employee is happy with their situation. Here is the thing, don't you think? As a workforce we are typically a caring bunch: this is why we choose this kind of work in the first place. We are well used to putting our children's and setting's needs before our own and standing up for our own rights does not come easily. At the risk of repeating myself, many early years settings run to a certain extent on the goodwill of employees, committee members and owners. One final thought about the OP's setting though. It reads to me as if the setting wants to support the employee (maybe because they're afraid she will leave to find alternative employment offering the full 16 hours?) by offering her more hours than they need/can afford. This is very laudable but I would be afraid of finding myself at the centre of a National Minimum Wage investigation once the claim is made for WTC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inge Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 actually, just had a thought about this for WTC do not the hours have to be all year round not just the 38 weeks we were open + the holiday ... it left 9 weeks with no pay it is a while since I helped a member of staff to get this but seem to remember her working extra hours each week and they were paid in the weeks we were closed.. so she was getting her correct pay over the year but working them at different times... we kept time sheets of the hours worked and paid them over the full 52 weeks at 16 hours a week.. it was the only way she could afford to stay at work, as otherwise she would have got more on benefits than by working! so if she is being paid all year this will make up the exrta money and holiday pay.. If not .. then no the holiday pay cannot be rolled up into the weekly pay to help it meet minimum wage.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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