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HMRC minimum wage clampdown

Jan 10 2007

Wage undercutting hits SMEs hard The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has welcomed the announcement by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) of a clampdown on the small minority of employers that break the law by refusing to pay the National Minimum Wage. The FSB, the UK’s biggest business organisation, with over 200,000 members, said that law-abiding employers are facing unlawful wage competition from a minority of rogue employers and backed a carefully targeted campaign from HMRC to end illegal pay deals. The FSB was in favour of a sensibly set minimum wage when it was first introduced, but has pointed out that year-on-year increases well above the rate of inflation have begun to hit certain business sectors in certain regions of the UK. Alan Tyrrell, FSB employment chairman, says: ‘Inflation-busting increases in the minimum wage are beginning to hit some small businesses hard. The situation may become critical if it is geared towards average earnings instead of inflation. While we welcome any moves to eradicate unlawful and unfair competition, this must be done without unnecessarily disadvantaging the vast majority of law-abiding small businesses.’ Click here to read about staff and setting wages correctly.

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