National Minimum Wage: Public consultations

This section contains information about current, or recently concluded, public consultations relating to the national minimum wage.

The Low Pay Commission has closed its consultation on its brief for its 2013 Report and on the accommodation offset.

Information about Low Pay Commission consultations can be found on their website .

Below you will find information about past public consultations relating to the national minimum wage for reference purposes.

Employed students and the accommodation offset

Issued: 18 January 2011, Closing Date: 12 April 2011

The national minimum wage (NMW) rules allow employers who provide accommodation for workers to count it as a benefit in kind towards payment of the NMW, up to a specified limit. This consultation document seeks input on the extent to which Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) provide accommodation to students and also employ them part-time. It asks whether, and if so how and in what circumstances, HEIs should be excluded from the accommodation offset rules. It also seeks input relating to Further Education Colleges and asks whether they should be included in any change to the law.

The Government's response to consultation was published on 16 June 2011. The Government concluded that the minimum wage accommodation rules should not apply where a student is enrolled on a full-time course with a Higher and Further Education Institutions and is also employed part-time by that institution.

National Minimum Wage workers: Travel and subsistence expenses schemes

Issued: 11 February 2010, Close date: 06 May 2010

This consultation looked at addressing the problem of the potentially exploitative arrangements which are implemented for some temporary workers paid at or near the national minimum wage (NMW). It aimed to develop the best solution to this problem and the Government welcomed feedback on the proposed changes to the NMW Regulations.

Service charges, tips, gratuities, and cover charges

Issued: 19-11-08, Closing Date: 16-02-09

This consultation looked at the ways for which tips are used in payment of the NMW. It was intended to invite comments from employers, workers and consumers, to form a picture of the current arrangement to assist the Government in determining the precise nature of any regulatory change relating to the treatment of mandatory and non mandatory service charges, tips, gratuities and cover charges in payment of the national minimum wage and how improvements to information to consumers might be achieved.

National minimum wage and voluntary workers

Starting Date: 12-06-07, Closing Date: 04-09-07

In January 2007, the government announced that it was carrying out a review of the provisions in the National Minimum Wage Act 1998 that relate to voluntary workers. The subsequent consultation ran from 12 June to 4 September 2007, inviting views on three areas:

  1. The experience of the voluntary sector with Section 44 of the National Minimum Wage Act.
  2. The use of regulations to exempt participants in the framework for youth volunteering which was recommended by the Russell Commission established in May 2004.
  3. Explicitly excluding Cadet Force Adult Volunteers from qualifying for the NMW.

National minimum wage and employment agency standards enforcement

Starting Date: 16-05-07, Closing Date: 08-08-07

This consultation was about two key elements of the regulatory framework – the national minimum wage (NMW) and the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate – focussing on measures to promote compliance and improve fairness both for workers and compliant businesses.

It proposed a new strategy to deal with cases of underpayment of the NMW, based on a fairer way of dealing with arrears, and a simpler, more effective penalty regime to deter non compliance.

It also consulted on strengthening the penalties regime for offences committed against employment agency legislation and clearer investigative powers for the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate. By making it more difficult for the small minority of rogue agencies to cut corners at the expense of the reputable side of the industry.

Updated 10 September 2012