Provided you are 18 or over you have the right to be paid no less
than the national minimum wage. If you are under the age of 22 the
rule is £3.80 an hour. If you are 22 or over it is £4.50
an hour, unless you are in your first six months of a new job and
are on accredited training when it can be just £3.80 an hour.
If you are under the age of 18 you are not covered by the national
minimum wage.
There are some categories of workers who, despite being over the
age of 18, are excluded from the right to minimum pay. You are not
covered if you are:
n an apprentice under
the age of 19, or under the age of 26 and in the first 12 months
of
the apprenticeship;
n a trainee on a government
funded scheme, like the New Deal;
n a student on a sandwich
course or a trainee teacher;
n working and living
within a family;
n or self employed
The pay rates above set out the statutory minimum rates of pay
for each age group. However, Massive Youth believe that these statutory
rates continue to be far below a satisfactory level and argue that
there should be a substantial increase.
There has been a noticable increase in demand for young workers
under the age of eighteen with many of them finding themselves dismissed
upon reaching eighteen years of age.
Official Massive Youth policy is to campaign for the abolition
of the discriminatory youth rates and for the inclusion of all young
workers from thirteen years of age.
A simple guide to follow is you should be paid a rate for the
job, not a rate for your age.
CASH SHORTFALLS
Employers can lawfully include in your contract a term which requires
you to make up any shortfolls in cash on the tills or on stock under
your control. However, to do this:
n they must have
notified you in writing before making the first deduction (section
13 Employment Rights Act 1996) and the agreement as to what is to
be deducted must be specific and clear;
n and if you are
a retail worker they should not deduct more than 10% gross of any
single pay packet except the last (section 18 Employment Rights
Act 1996).
If your employer has not given you the written notice of what will
be deducted and for which reasons then the deduction itself is unlawful
and you should take this up at once with Massive Youth. Do not delay
going to Massive Youth because there is a three month time limit
for taking claims should it be decided that the case needs to go
to a tribunal.
OVERTIME
There is no specific law covering overtime pay but the practice
in most workplaces is to pay a premium rate for any overtime worked.
However, if you are working part-time you may find that your contract
states that you will only be paid at the basic time rate until you
have done the same number of hours as a full-time worker. In law
employers are allowed to do this.
The overtime rate is often the basic hourly rate plus 50% (usually
called time and a half). If you are being asked to do extra hours
but without any premium pay then take this up with Massive Youth.
TIPS
If you are working in a bar, hotel or restaurant you may find that
there is a system of tipping. Customers, when settling the bill,
will either add an amount to the total or have a set percentage
added to the bill in advance. As far as tips are concerned you should
have had explained to you how these would be divided up. Where they
are paid in cash there is usually no problem. Tips are usually put
into what is called a tranche and then divided up, with each employee
getting a percentage, usually related to the job they do. An employer
who decides to reduce the staff share of the tips is making an unlawful
deduction to wages according to the case of Saavedra v Aceground
[1995] Industrial Relations Law Reports (IRLR) 198. If this is happening
you should immediately report it to Massive Youth. However, if tips
are added to a credit bill then according to a case which was heard
by the Court of Appeal, Nerva v RL & G [1996] IRIR 461, these are
not the property of the employee. If customers ask you about tips
you can take the opportunity to explain the advantages of them paying
the tip in cash.
OWED WAGES
You have the legal right to be paid your wages on the dates when
they are due. Wages include holiday pay, sick and maternity pay.
If your employer fails to pay all or part of them this is an unlawful
deduction under the Employment Rights Act 1996. You should immediately
contact Massive Youth if
this happens. Do not delay as there is a three-month time limit
should you need to put the claim to a tribunal.
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Pay rights