Excluded workers

Some groups of workers are excluded from the right to the National Minimum Wage. These include:

• the genuinely self-employed;

• share fishermen;

• genuine volunteers and voluntary workers with a contract to work for expenses only for a voluntary organisation;

• prisoners;

• work experience students (as long as it lasts less than a year);

• some government training programmes and pre-apprenticeship training courses (see below for new regulations published in 2014);

• students on sandwich courses; members of the armed forces; and schoolchildren aged under 16.

New regulations, the National Minimum Wage (Amendment) Regulations 2014, came into force on 7 March 2014, spelling out that work done under a government traineeship does not qualify for the NMW. A traineeship is a skills programme lasting a maximum of six months. These programmes are aimed at young workers aged 16-23 who lack the skills or work experience they need to get a job. The traineeship age group is to be extended to include 24-year-olds from 2014-15.

Under new rules to combat false self-employment, introduced by HMRC from 6 April 2014, individuals supplied through a payroll company to work under supervision, direction and control are to be treated as employed earners for tax and national insurance purposes even if they are under no obligation to provide work personally. This means that these workers should qualify for at least the National Minimum Wage, as well as other benefits such as holiday pay, statutory sick pay and maternity pay (see page 46). Eligible workers should also gain pension rights (see page 112). The change will benefit many workers, mainly in the construction industry. The new rules are in the Finance Bill 2014.