25 January 2018 
Michael Edwards,
Members will be aware that making sure your university is compliant with National Minimum Wage legislation can be very complex. In the event of a review, NMW inspectors will focus on employment contracts, time and attendance records and will consider whether there are any amounts that should be deducted from pay when making your NMW calculations. Other risks include, for example, working arrangements where students are undertaking what HMRC consider to be paid work in return for payments to cover living expenses and/or waiver of their student fees.
EY have offered to run a number of sessions for us, free of charge, in order to address potential pitfalls and best practice. These events will be led by ex-NMW inspectors and will provide practical advice on how reviews are conducted and perhaps more importantly what you should be doing to prepare for the inevitable “knock on the door”, to mitigate penalties (which can be up to 200% of the arrears), and possible defences to avoid “naming and shaming”. EY are proposing to run a number of interactive sessions aimed at payroll, tax, finance and HR professionals in London, Birmingham, Manchester, Newcastle and Edinburgh. The dates are to be confirmed but are expected to be in April subject to interest. If you want to participate in one of the sessions please email me now stating which event (assuming the date is convenient) you would prefer to attend, in order that we may gauge the level of interest.
