02/05/2025
The UK Government is considering some significant amendments to building regulations which will impact BWF Members and the wider woodworking and joinery manufacturing industry. A consultation of ...
The government has released a list of 25 employers who failed to pay workers the minimum wage as part of new rules to ‘name and shame’ law-breaking businesses under rules that came into effect last October.
The list of companies includes a Cumbria joinery business, who failed to pay £1,415.82 to a worker and a carpentry firm from Godalming who failed to pay £1,236.72 to a worker. Neither of the companies in question are BWF members.
All BWF members have signed up to a rigorous set of standards of workmanship, company stewardship and environmental disciplines through the BWF Code of Conduct. The Code sets out the principles of good practice for a woodworking or joinery business.
The employers on the government list were investigated by HMRC after members of staff called a free helpline to report they were being underpaid. The businesses owe a combined total of more than £43,000 to staff and have been ordered to pay fines totalling more than £21,000.
A series of measures have recently been introduced to crack down on employers that break National Minimum Wage law. As well as being publicly named and shamed, those that fail to pay their workers the National Minimum Wage also face new penalties of up to £20,000.
The government also plans to legislate so that employers can also be given penalties of up to £20,000 for each individual worker they have underpaid, rather than the maximum penalty applying to each employer. This will mean if an employer underpays 10 workers, they could face penalties of up to £200,000.
The National Minimum Wage is set to increase in October 2014 and the increases from the current rate are as follows:
The national minimum wage will increase by 19p an hour from £6.31 to £6.50.
The rate for 18 to 20-year-olds will go up by 10p to £5.13 an hour, a 2% increase.
The rate for those aged 16 and 17 will rise by 7p to £3.79, also a 2% rise.
Apprentices will earn an extra 5p an hour, taking their wages to at least £2.73.
The BWF’s employment, legal and tax guidance is one of the most developed areas of our support for woodworking companies. BWF members needing advice on tax and employment matters can use our free-to-members business support helplines which includes legal assistance from Wedlake Bell, and employment advice from Croner. They can find further resources in this area under publications, where we have a number of guides and template documents.
