Extra hours not paid, minimum wage

[TeenAndTween]

On another thread someone who works in a nursery/pre-school said they are only paid (NMW) for the hours children are present and not for the ~1-2hrs total each day they are setting up & clearing away (hired hall rather than own premises). Apparently their contract states they are only paid for direct contact hours.

Is this legal? It sounds a bit like not paying care workers travel time between clients which I think has now been stopped?

I'm wondering as my DD is about to start as a nursery apprentice ...

Can't see how it can be unless the setting up is voluntary.

No its not legal. They should report

I would contact acas regarding this but would suspect it is absolutely not legal. I had similar many years ago where I was expected to open up half an hour before my start time and a quick call to acas informed me that I only needed to be in work the length of time it took me to take my jacket off

It's definitely not legal. HMRC have been clamping down on this in places like Sports Direct and many others.

Thank you.

It's not legal but surely they will just fire people who don't do this.

It's not legal but surely they will just fire people who don't do this

If someone reports the employer to HMRC they can be investigated. HMRC can force them to pay any staff who have been underpaid and impose a substantial fine. In some cases the employer may face a criminal prosecution. An employer who continues to underpay after HMRC have visited is being terminally stupid.

I could imagine a small pre-school hiring a hall could go bust if it had a fine and back-pay though, which wouldn't help the workers much...

Glad to know you don't think it's legal though. If my DD gets expected to work unpaid hours on a regular basis I'll know what to tell her.