Will try to keep this as brief as possible. DS1 is 17 (18 in Feb) and has been employed at a local tourist attraction (it’s a zoo if that makes a difference) since last Easter. He works in the coffee shop. Apart from the 2 weeks we were on holiday, he worked every Saturday/Sunday and every day in the Summer Holidays very often staying way past his hours to help out. He was employed on a wage of £9.50, this is stated on his contract. I’m aware it’s above the NMW for 17 year olds however it seems to be the going rate for Tourist Attractions round here as his previous job was at the same rate.
Over the last few months, the staff (who are mostly teenagers) have been contacted by HR stating their wages are to be reduced to NMW for 17 year olds which is £4.81. Some have agreed to it but others have just left. DS did nothing as he hasn’t received a letter until last week. Basically it says due to operational requirements they are asking them to reduce their wages.It’s slightly more convoluted than that but am reluctant to post the entire letter.
Its apparently due to high running costs of the zoo which I completely understand but it was packed out every single day over the Summer.
I just wanted to find out if it’s legal for them to do this before DS replies to the letter? I could understand perhaps if it was just over the winter but it’s not. It will go up slightly in February (when he is 18)but not up to what it was before this.
Also we live rurally (and the zoo is rural too) so it’s a 20 mile round trip to do a 4 hour shift so getting paid £4.81 an hour is not really worth it. He would have never taken the job at that rate as he’d barely be breaking even with petrol costs etc.
Any thoughts?