To think this does not meet national minimum wage

[Sillysally1998]

So a friend of mine showed me a job advert which stated;

*"Salary: Meets National Minimum Wage

Additional Information: We expect all our staff members to complete some voluntary hours on a weekly basis."*

I think that this means they are not paying NMW, if you are paid for 10 hours at NMW but expected to work 12 for example, when you average it out......

It is for a charity, does that make a difference?

AIBU?

That is outrageous.

YANBU. That's exactly what its doing. Getting more hours of work for less pay. All employers could do that to get out of the legislation!

I don't think it makes any difference if its a charity. Employment law still applies.

Expect is the opposite voluntary.

It’s hardly voluntary if it’s ‘expected’ it doesn’t matter if it is a charity - people deserve to be paid for work unless they are officially just volunteers. I think that’s quite disgusting tbh.

Thanks for the replies!

Is there anyone I can report them to?

You are assuming that "Meets National Minimum Wage" means that they only pay the national minimum wage.

I think it means that the salary meets the NMW at the very least.

@jimmyhill sorry I should had added, it also says this on it's website

"Therefore all of our position at all levels are minimum wage.

Working with animals requires compassion, dedication and often long working hours. We also expect our staff to complete some voluntary hours as part of their role."

That's ridiculous. Mandatory volunteering🙄
I would make complaint to charity commission first

It is ridiculous but in the contract it probably sas something like I agree to stay a reasonable amount of time after a shift of needs be (like in shops where they pay staff until closing time but they still have to sort the place out).

If it's a big charity they have a legal team so it's more than likely legal (but morally very wrong, especially when they're being paid minimum wage.

You'd be better naming and shaming them on twitter or their Facebook page. It won't change what they do but at least they'll be held accountable for it and people will be aware.

A charity makes no difference, they're still employers. They could easily get some volunteers that can afford and spare the time in, as people love animals, rather than forcing people to do it

Report them. Not to the charity commission but to the people who actually enforce NMW compliance.

www.gov.uk/government/publications/pay-and-work-rights-complaints

It is ridiculous but in the contract it probably sas something like I agree to stay a reasonable amount of time after a shift of needs be (like in shops where they pay staff until closing time but they still have to sort the place out)

And if that brings their pay down below NMW levels, that’s not lawful either. You can’t contract out of a legal duty to pay the NMW.

Definitely do as LatteLove says and report it.

It might not be unlawful, it depends on what the voluntary work element is. If the position was for a vetinary nurse, that would need to be paid. If the volunteering was dog walking, and all the dog walkers were volunteers, then that would be acceptable. What's important is the distinction between the paid work and the volunteering, they can't be for the same thing (and in the case of the voluntary work, for something that someone would otherwise be paid for).

It's HMRC that polices NMW violations - have a quick look on their website?

And perhaps let us know which national animal charities are not undeserving of our support?

And looking at their website, they have volunteer dog walkers!

This isn't unusual. Many CAB paid workers also do voluntary adviser shifts.

But NoBaggy - if the NMW job is dependent on the worker volunteering as well, then that volunteering isn't voluntary

And a PP said that they might be expected to stay a few minutes extra from time to time - that's also in violation - places that do expect that pay more than minimum to cover themselves in that eventuality.

Please shop them OP - it's not like NMW is even a livable wage

Even if it’s different work it’s not true volunteering if you’ve effectively been told it’s compulsory to do it.

What with that and paying all levels of staff the NMW they sound awful.

@LatteLove big companies get away with it all the time. Uber and amazon were in the news because there pay works out so bad. I agree it's not right but lawfully they are probably abusing a loop hole 🤷‍♀️💁‍♀️

”If it's a big charity they have a legal team so it's more than likely legal”

If that was the case then no big company would ever have a tribunal rule against them..

If it’s compulsory, it’s not volunteering, therefore it is subject to NMW.

I doubt it very much. I work for a modern slavery team. If you are not being paid a minimum wage for a job that requires you to work a certain amount of hours .. and you will lose you job if you don't do it/agree to it then it breaks the minimum wage laws.

Call ACAS and report it

lawfully they are probably abusing a loop hole

They aren’t. If you pay someone the NMW and don’t pay them for all the hours they work then you are breaking the law.

Don’t report to ACAS, they can’t do anything about it. I posted the link. If they’re paying the NMW, no harm done. If they’re not, the workers deserve to get the pay owed and they deserve to be named and shamed.

Thank you, I will repot them.

I work in Employment Law specialising in NMW.
From the information provided all the hours spent working (including the expected voluntary hours) will need to be paid at least at the current NMW rate or the employer or charity will be in breach of legislation.
HMRC's enforcement team may consider this exploitation.

Not lawful if it's a requirement and dilutes the wage below national minimum. Report.

I bet they rapid turnover of staff as when someone complains that not paid enough or they can't do their "voluntary" hours this week they get booted as you can't claim unfair dismissal under 2 years although if you win with NMW you will get back pay but it won't get you your job back