The British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA) has today welcomed the launch of a new consultation by BEIS (the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy) to make National Minimum Wage rules more flexible.
The consultation has been launched alongside the Good Work Plan, which sets out the Government’s vision for the UK labour market, implementing recommendations from the Taylor Review of Modern Working Practices.
Brigid Simmonds, Chief Executive of the British Beer & Pub Association, said, “We welcome the decision by BEIS to launch a consultation to make National Minimum Wage rules more flexible.
'The move comes after the BBPA and others raised concerns over how restrictive the current National Minimum Wage conditions are, which unfairly penalise responsible companies. For example, the current conditions mean that employers who pay on a monthly basis have a month to correct any errors in pay, whilst those who pay on a weekly basis only get one week to correct any errors.'
Simmonds continued, “The consultation will look at Salary Sacrifice Schemes and their impact on the National Minimum Wage. We would welcome flexibility that is in the interest of the employee for this to address current irregularities. For example, pub chef’s knives which are commonly bought through Salary Sacrifice Schemes.
“The consultation will also look at Salaried Workers for National Minimum Wage purposes, but at present this does not allow for the inclusion of those who are paid on a fortnightly or four-weekly basis, so in our consultation response we’ll be pushing to support this.
“More broadly, this consultation needs to look into compliance when it comes to the National Minimum Wage to correctly ensure that protecting workers is front of mind as opposed to penalising businesses for the sake of it.”