Can you voluntarily accept less than minimum wage?

[Joe Totale 10]

Bit of a strange one this, I work for a very small not for profits organisation, who do their majority of work for local charities/action groups etc.

 

Due to a major cash flow situation they cannot afford to pay me the minimum wage for the hours it takes to do the work involved.

 

I have agreed to cut my "paid" hours to a figure they can pay (this is just slightly above NMW) I am willing to work the rest of the hours it will take to finish the work order for free.

 

The problem is that if I work less than 24hrs a week I have been told I must sign on, I dont want to go through that hassle and would prefer just to carry on working part-time but my wage divided by weekly paid hours is well below NMW.

 

In the past 2 years I have had 2 heart attacks a heart op and suffer from angina, the job I do I enjoy and would love to try and keep it going.

[Susil 10]

The problem is that if I work less than 24hrs a week I have been told I must sign on

 

I can't offer much advice on the overall situation, but this bit can't be correct. You're under no obligation to claim Jobseeker's however little work you might have. If the amount you will make from this job will be enough for your needs then you don't have to go sign on.

[angel22 10]

You don't have to sign on! Where I work, some staff only work 15 hours a week and none of them do. My Mum hasn't worked for over 20 years and she's never signed on.

 

Legally I'm not sure if they'd be allowed to pay you less then minimum wage. But if you volunteered to do it for free, I can't see why that shouldn't be allowed.

[Joe Totale 10]

Think the signing on bit might be to cover National Insurance Contributions ?

Though I have paid them for the last 38 years!

[angel22 10]

Think the signing on bit might be to cover National Insurance Contributions ?

Though I have paid them for the last 38 years!

 

To 'sign on' means claiming job seekers allowance. You aren't job seeking so there's no reason why you should claim it. For the last 4 years, I've worked 20 hours a week. I have not had to sign on and NI is still deducted from my wages.

[barleycorn 10]

Go self employed and invoice them for the work done.

 

jb

[999tigger 10]

As far as I understand it then there is nothing which requires you to sign on. Signing on is to do with claiming benefits. If you dont claim and dont want to claim then there is no reason to sign on.

 

In terms of the mimimum wage then if they employ you, they have to pay you at least the min wage. The way round it would be for them to employ you for x hours on NMW. Volunteer for the additional hours.

[poppet2 13]

Is the OP claiming for any other benefits such as housing benefit, child tax allowance, working credits etc. maybe to claim for some of these benefits OP has been told they must work for a certain amount of hours.

OP could always work for x amount of hours and do voluntary work for the same company for a few hours.

[ivanava 10]

As far as I understand it then there is nothing which requires you to sign on. Signing on is to do with claiming benefits. If you dont claim and dont want to claim then there is no reason to sign on.

 

In terms of the mimimum wage then if they employ you, they have to pay you at least the min wage. The way round it would be for them to employ you for x hours on NMW. Volunteer for the additional hours.

 

Thats the way I would do it.

[Joe Totale 10]

Is the OP claiming for any other benefits such as housing benefit, child tax allowance, working credits etc. maybe to claim for some of these benefits OP has been told they must work for a certain amount of hours.

OP could always work for x amount of hours and do voluntary work for the same company for a few hours.

 

Thats the way I would do it.

 

I get a small amount of WTC that I would lose until my hours hopefully go back up in October. I own my own house so don't get HB, but I do get a bit of Council Tax reduction.

 

Think I'll tell them I'm doing the other 14 hours unpaid voluntary.

[Twiglet 10]

Think the signing on bit might be to cover National Insurance Contributions ?

Though I have paid them for the last 38 years!

 

You need 30 'qualifying years' to get your state pension - during these years you need to have paid a certain amount of National Insurance for them to qualify. This is why you're being told to sign on, so that your NI contributions would be topped up. If you do have 30 qualifying years then this shouldn't be a problem.

 

---------- Post added 13-05-2014 at 14:07 ----------

 

Having said that, the volunteering and minimum wage situation probably would be a problem. As an employee, you have a contract of employment and this means they have to pay you NMW. If the nature of the work you are conducting in your additional unpaid hours is similar to that under your contract of employment, then they would be breaking the law by not paying you NMW.

[cookie19 10]

google it on internet