Don't fall foul of new national minimum wage fines

The NHF is warning salon to ensure they don't earn themselves a  hefty fine for those flouting the national minimum wage (NMW) laws. The government introduced new name and shame legislation in October, which made public those businesses not paying employees the NMW. From 7 March naming and shaming will be coupled with fines of up to £20,000. Commented Hilary Hall, chief executive of the National Hairdressers’ Federation: “Hairdressing has the worst reputation for not paying the national minimum wage – so NHF has repeatedly warned that salons will be obvious targets for investigation.  And the government is upping the consequences for businesses breaking the law.  We saw two salons publicly ‘named and shamed’ last week and, from 7 March, the financial penalties will go from a maximum of £5,000 to £20,000.   Your business may struggle just to survive the damage to reputation, but fines on this scale could literally put you out of business.  NHF members are kept up-to-date about the current rates, any proposed changes as well as having access to specialist help on payroll questions.  Our advice?  Be sure you’re paying at the right rate because if you aren’t, you could lose your business.”