HMRC National Minimum Wage Investigations

The delivery company Hermes is facing an investigation in to allegations that it is failing to meet national minimum wage obligations.  At Chadwick Lawrence we have seen a number of national minimum wage investigations by HMRC not just involving large businesses but, more frequently, smaller businesses who have failed to comply with the national minimum wage rules.

Typical areas where businesses have unfortunately not met the minimum wage rules include unpaid training, improper wording in their contracts of employment, travelling time or deduction from wages for matters such as uniform.  HMRC identified 58,000 workers as being owed arrears in 2015/16 which was a significant increase from the 26,000 workers in 2014/15.  In addition, HMRC has significantly reduced the average time taken to investigate complaints about employers’ non-compliance with the national minimum wage.  A recent report by the HMRC finds that non-compliance with the national minimum wage in the social care sector remains a concern. Businesses being inspected by HMRC tend to be small and inadvertently fail to comply with the minimum wage regulations.

The sums involved are often modest but the reputational consequences are not.  HMRC’s policy of naming and shaming can be extremely damaging to a business.

At Chadwick Lawrence we have significant experience of dealing with the HMRC following a national minimum wage investigation and it is vital that businesses take advice from an early stage.  We often see that businesses try and deal with a HMRC investigation without taking advice.  At Chadwick Lawrence we have considerable expertise and specialism in dealing with such investigations and an excellent record of minimising the damage caused by an investigation.

Find out more about Chadwick Lawrence’s Regulatory Services here.