First, we had the Training Wage Bill 2010-11 submitted to Parliament. The Bill would have provided that:
“anyone entitled to the national minimum wage, as defined in the National Minimum Wage Act 1998, would lose that entitlement if they had entered into a written contract of employment offering them a training wage and training from the employer in skills relevant to the employment”.
(Training Wage Bill)
In other words, if you signed a contract with an employer that they would “train” you, they could pay lower than the National Minimum Wage (NMW).
In other words, if you signed a contract with an employer that they would “train” you, they could pay lower than the National Minimum Wage (NMW).
That Bill did not make it passed its second reading in Parliament – possibly for fear of potential speculation that the Government was trying to re-introduce slave labour!?
Instead in October 2010, the Government introduced the new National Minimum Wage of just £2.50 per hour for apprenticeships. This wage is much lower than what was already classed as the minimum:
There are different levels of NMW, depending on your age and whether you are an apprentice. The current rates are:
· £5.93 - the main rate for workers aged 21 and over
· £4.92 - the 18-20 rate
· £3.64 - the 16-17 rate for workers above school leaving age but under 18
· £2.50 - the apprentice rate, for apprentices under 19 or 19 or over and in the first year of their apprenticeship
The age at which you become entitled to the main rate was reduced from 22 to 21 on 1 October 2010. The apprentice rate was introduced on the same date.
However, not content with losing such a grand idea as “losing entitlement to the national minimum wage”, a new Bill popped up in Parliament on 5 July 2010 called the Employment Opportunities Bill 2010-11.
This Bill seemed much more presentable (at first glance) with the stated purpose of the Bill to “introduce more freedom, flexibility and opportunity for those seeking employment in the public and private sectors.”
On closer reading, however, look what they managed to include in the Bill:
- Removal of the entitlement to the minimum wage from those who are receiving a training wage, if they had entered into a written contract of employment offering them a training wage and training from the employer in skills relevant to the employment
- a requirement for the Low Pay Commission to institute an enquiry into the impact of the national minimum wage on job creation and access to employment in areas of high unemployment, and to consider whether to reduce the minimum wage in those areas if it is found to have had a negative effect. It would further require the Secretary of State to act on recommendations by the Commission to reduce the minimum wage
During the second reading in Parliament on 17 June 2011 it was negatived (thankfully )and will not progress any further.
We cannot , however, help but wonder, where will these proposals will pop up next – perhaps in another new Bill somewhere down the line?? The Government does rather keen (and determined) to reduce the NMW further.
