HMRC releases excuses for not paying minimum wage: ‘I only pay them when they are actually serving someone’

The taxman has revealed the most absurd excuses it has received from businesses explaining why they are not paying staff the national minimum wage.

Some of the excuses included one business owner justifying not paying their staff the national minimum wage due to their workers often being “on standby when there are no customers in the shop,” expanding that they “only pay them for when they are actually serving someone.”

Another business owner was quoted as saying: “My workers like to think of themselves as being self-employed and the national minimum wage does not apply to people who work for themselves.”

HMRC said it helped more than 155,000 workers across the UK recover more than £16m in pay which was due to them last year. The taxman has also dealt out over £14m in penalties to employers not paying the national minimum wage.

Steve Timewell, director individuals and small business compliance, said: “Being underpaid is no joke for workers, so we always apply the law and take action. Workers cannot be asked or told to sign-away their rights.”

Another person said they have “an agreement with [their] workers that [they] will not pay them the national minimum wage; they understand, and they even signed a contract to this effect.”

Another said: “It is part of UK culture not to pay young workers for the first three months as they have to prove their ‘worth’ first.”

National minimum wage hourly rates range from £8.91 for anyone aged 23 and over to £4.62 to those under the age of 18.

By law, workers must be paid at least the minimum wage for their age. Employers who do not pay the national minimum wage can be publicly named and shamed.

HMRC recently revealed John Lewis has failed to pay £941,355 to 19,392 workers, while Pret A Manger failed to pay £9,679 to 33 workers.