THOUSANDS of people are still being paid poverty wages as bosses flout minimum wage laws, figures show. Official data reveals an estimated 33,000 Scots aged 21 and over were earning less than £6.95 in April, when the most recent figures were drawn up. Across the UK as a whole, the total for this group was 479,000.
Meanwhile, 18,000 Scottish 18-20 year olds were being paid less than £5.55, with the UK total standing at 204,000.
And as many as 6,000 under-18s were being exploited at less than £4 per hour against an overall UK figure of 56,000.
Earlier this week HMRC revealed the 10 worst excuses employers have offered for giving poverty pay to their staff. These include saying that a worker was not good enough, that another “only makes the tea” and that the minimum wage “does not apply” to their business.
However, the government has been told to stop its own excuses and “get a grip” on low pay.
Almost 960 operations were found to be paying less than the minimum wage in 2015-16 with wage arrears of £10.3 million for more than 58,000 people recovered. More than 800 of these were fined for their actions but not a single criminal prosecution. Only 13 prosecutions have taken place over non-compliance in the past decade.
A Scots MP is now calling on Theresa May to implement a three-point plan to make work pay, including a crackdown on rogue employers, the implementation of the real living wage, as set by the Living Wage Foundation, and end age-related disparities to ensure “genuine pay equality”.
Alison Thewliss, who represents Glasgow Central, said: “Currently, the UK Government has a ridiculous system whereby minimum wage rates are set in accordance with age. That means if you’re a 16-year-old apprentice, the law says you can be paid as little as £3.30 per hour. How does that fit into the Prime Minister’s new obsession about a shared society?”
She added: “Last summer might have seen a change of occupant in 10 Downing Street but it appears to be business as usual for this Tory Government; they appear to have no interest whatsoever in tackling pay inequality and exploitation. Theresa May’s impassioned speech on the steps of Downing Street has been exposed again and again as empty rhetoric.
“These shocking figures show that the government is doing very little to crack down on employers who aren’t complying with national minimum wage legislation passed almost two decades ago. This sends an incredibly worrying signal to exploitative employers who will think it is perfectly acceptable to pay peanuts for a fair day’s work.”
An HMRC spokesperson said: “HMRC always take action where we believe an employer is not paying its workers the national minimum wage or national living wage which they are legally entitled to.
“Punishment for not complying with the national minimum wage or national living wage can include fines of up to 200 per cent of the arrears owed, naming in the national press and criminal prosecution.”
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