Mark Kaye has commented for People Management on whether employers can provide accommodation instead of paying the National Minimum Wage (NMW). The article discusses the exception under the National Minimum Wage Act 1998 which can apply to certain workers employed by charities and other qualifying organisations who receive no monetary payment and only reasonable subsistence or accommodation.
Mark said employers should bear in mind that reliance on the accommodation-only exemption under the NMW Act is “highly fact sensitive and a blanket approach should never be adopted”.
“A ‘no salary’ or ‘in exchange for accommodation only’ arrangement can still amount to a contract of employment and can still fall outside the national minimum wage obligations under the narrow exemption at section 44 of the National Minimum Wage Act 1998, but only if the facts genuinely support both conclusions,” he explained. “Employers cannot rely on labels alone.”
Read the article in full