Paying less than National Minimum Wage

[HopefulMedicOnWheels]

I have DM who is considering hiring a cleaner for her home. I asked her what she's paying the cleaner and she goes "£5p/h"

I told her that you can't pay someone £5p/h for 10 hours pw. Surely that is illegal and the potential cleaner is entitled to at least £7.50p/h.

I checked online and it confirms what I'm thinking but when can you pay someone less than minimum wage? £75 by the end of the week seems like absolutely nothing.

Cleaners are usually self employed so NMW wouldn't apply ( I'm no employment expert though). However £5/ph is an exploitative wage for a cleaner and I would tell my mother so if she considered it.

I assume she’s planning to pay cash in hand which means that she wouldn’t get caught out and the cleaner wouldn’t be able to shop her for fear of incriminating themself. However it’s still both illegal and immoral. Also, 10 hours a week? Just how big is this home?

Oh yes of course, home cleaners aren’t normally employees, so it’s not illegal. Still dodgy though.

She's not looking to pay them cash in hand either, she wants to pay her through bank whilst notifying HMRC and paying tax. I don't really know much about employment law either but it's absolutely ridiculous.

DM claims they'll just clean but I think my mother might ask them to do other tasks as well to make up the hours.

£5 an hour?! Bloody hell, I pay the 16 year old who cuts my lawn for me three times that. To offer that to a fully grown independent adult is insulting.

But I don't know the legalities of it.

Novody with an ounce of sense would accept that wage all legit. Just laugh at her, she’ll learn.

Good luck to her finding a cleaner who is prepared to work for such an exploitative hourly rate! You just have to look at all the threads on here. Most are on at least £10/hour.

I can't see how she is planning to do payroll for a cleaner and pay tax/NI etc. Most cleaners are self employed, work at multiple locations and have to pay tax accordingly.

I'd be amazed if she actually can find a cleaner for a fiver an hour.

As the cleaner would be self employed, it's legal.

What does she mean by "notify HMRC and paying tax"?

I think she means she wants a personal cleaner because she can't clean her house anymore due to health issues. Realistically, this person would more be like a carer/PA than a cleaner. I don't get it honestly.

Depending on her location she might conceivably be able to find someone to do that cash in hand, not declaring it for tax or benefits purposes.

There’s no way on earth she’d get anyone to do it while declaring it for tax/benefits. And anyone who was claiming top up benefits would be completely screwed by declaring sub-NMW work.

She still won't get someone to do it for so little. DH's grandmother had someone who started as a cleaner and gradually progressed to carer/housekeeper as she got older. She was still self employed, paid a proper hourly rate, dealt with all her tax affairs herself.

I'll be telling her to reconsider because clearly no one would be alright with that.