{"id":79264,"date":"2017-02-27T00:15:02","date_gmt":"2017-02-27T00:15:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?guid=ca35f57f4604ecbadc988f11877ded96"},"modified":"2017-02-27T00:15:02","modified_gmt":"2017-02-27T00:15:02","slug":"press-release-campaign-launched-to-increase-low-paid-workers-knowledge-of-national-minimum-and-national-living-wage-rights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?p=79264","title":{"rendered":"Press release: Campaign launched to increase low paid workers\u2019 knowledge of national minimum and national living wage rights"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"govspeak\">\n<ul>\n<li>Government advertising campaign goes live across the country today to raise lowest paid workers\u2019 knowledge of their rights ahead of the National Minimum and National Living Wage rates rise on 1 April<\/li>\n<li>New poll shows lack of understanding when it comes to being paid, including for travel time and security searches at the start or end of shifts<\/li>\n<li>Business Minister Margot James: \u201cWe are determined to make sure everybody in work receives a fair wage\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The Government has today launched a nationwide campaign to increase low paid workers\u2019 understanding of their rights around pay.<\/p>\n<p>The national advertising campaign &#8211; which will be carried on public transport, in shopping centres and other public places &#8211; is being rolled out ahead of the Government\u2019s National Minimum and National Living Wage rates rising on 1 April.<\/p>\n<p>It comes as a new poll for the Government shows many people in low paid work are confused about when they should be paid and what deductions from their pay packets can legally be made.<\/p>\n<p>The poll of more than 1,400 workers earning less than \u00a315,000 found:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>69% didn\u2019t know they should be paid for travel time between appointments<\/li>\n<li>57% didn\u2019t know having money deducted from their wages to cover the costs of their uniform is unlawful if it takes their earnings under the National Minimum or National Living Wage<\/li>\n<li>48% didn\u2019t know that tips can\u2019t be used to top up pay to the legal minimum<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Some of the most common excuses given to HMRC by employers for underpaying workers include using tips to top up pay to the minimum wage, making staff pay for their uniforms out of their salary which takes them below the legal minimum, not paying for shutting up shop or for time waiting for security checks, or the time spent travelling from one appointment to another.<\/p>\n<p>In light of this, the campaign highlights some of the most common examples when a worker may be underpaid the legal minimum in a bid to encourage workers to check their pay.<\/p>\n<h4 id=\"business-minister-margot-james-said\">Business Minister Margot James said:<\/h4>\n<p>\u201cWe are determined to make sure everybody in work receives a fair wage and while most employers get it right, there are still a small number who fail to play by the rules. This campaign will raise awareness among the lowest paid people in society about what they must legally receive.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnyone who thinks they may be paid less than the legal minimum should contact Acas as soon as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n<h4 id=\"jennie-granger-director-general-for-customer-compliance-at-hmrc-said\">Jennie Granger, Director General for Customer Compliance at HMRC, said:<\/h4>\n<p>\u201cPaying the National Minimum Wage is the law \u2013 it\u2019s not a choice. Employers must pay their workers what they\u2019re entitled to and follow the rules.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe will act to ensure ripped-off workers receive their proper pay and hardworking businesses are not losing out to dodgy dealers who cheat their staff.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ahead of 1 April, when the national minimum and living wage rates go up, workers are encouraged to check their pay, speak to their boss about the rate rise and report underpayment to Acas, the independent workplace advisory service.<\/p>\n<h4 id=\"stewart-gee-head-of-guidance-at-acas-said\">Stewart Gee, Head of Guidance at Acas, said:<\/h4>\n<p>\u201cWe welcome this new Government awareness campaign as it is important for employers to stay within the law and for workers to be fully aware of the pay that they are legally entitled to.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c<a rel=\"external\" href=\"http:\/\/www.acas.org.uk\/nmw\">Acas<\/a> has free and impartial advice for both employers and employees on the correct national minimum and living wage rates and advice for workers on what they can do if they feel that they are not being paid correctly.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/checkyourpay\">Information<\/a> on the Government\u2019s National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage and to report underpayment.<\/p>\n<h4 id=\"notes-to-editors\">Notes to editors:<\/h4>\n<ol>\n<li>\n<p>From 1 April 2017:<br \/>\nThe Government\u2019s National Living Wage rate for those aged 25 and over will increase by 30p to \u00a37.50 per hour.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>For the Government\u2019s National Minimum Wage:\n<ul>\n<li>the rate for 21 to 24 year olds will increase by 10p to \u00a37.05 per hour<\/li>\n<li>the rate for 18 to 20 year olds will increase by 5 to \u00a35.60 per hour<\/li>\n<li>the rate for 16 to 17 year old will increase by 5p to \u00a34.05 per hour<\/li>\n<li>the apprentice rate will increase by 10p to \u00a33.50 per hour<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>The new rates were been recommended by the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/organisations\/low-pay-commission\">independent Low Pay Commission<\/a> after careful consideration of evidence from both workers and employers.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>HMRC enforces the Government\u2019s National Minimum and Living Wage law and over the next year will spend a record \u00a325.3 million on making sure the country\u2019s lowest paid people get the pay they are entitled to.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>On 15 February, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/news\/record-number-of-employers-named-and-shamed-for-underpaying\">named and shamed<\/a> a record 359 employers for underpaying workers nearly \u00a31 million.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>Polling methodology statement: Populus interviewed a random sample of 1,435 UK adults who are currently working aged 16+ earning less than \u00a315,000 a year from its online panel between 14 and 20 February 2017. Surveys were conducted across the country and the results have been weighted to the profile of all adults. <a rel=\"external\" href=\"http:\/\/www.populus.co.uk\/\">Populus<\/a> is a founder member of the British Polling Council and abides by its rules.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Government advertising campaign launches today to raise lowest paid workers\u2019 knowledge of their rights ahead of the National Minimum and National Living Wage rates rise on 1 April<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79264"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=79264"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79264\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=79264"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=79264"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=79264"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}