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National Minimum Wage Rates
National minimum wage rates are set to rise again from 1 October
2011. The
increased rates will be as follows:
-
Adult rate
(workers aged 21 and over) will increase to £6.08 (from £5.93)
-
Development
rate for 18-20 year olds will increase to £4.98 (from £4.92)
-
Development
rate for 16-17 year olds will increase to £3.68 (from £3.64)
-
The apprentice
rate, for apprentices under 19 or 19 or over and in the first
year of their apprenticeship will increase to £2.60 (from £2.50)
The Employment Equality (Age) Regulations provide a specific lawful
exemption enabling young workers to continue to be paid below the
standard
adult NMW and allowing the different rates to be used according to the
above
age bands. This was in response to employers’ concerns about financial
pressures if the maximum rate was applied to all employees.
In addition, there
is a fair piece rate which means that employers must pay
their output workers the minimum wage for every hour they work based on
an
hourly rate derived from the time it takes a worker working at average
speed to
produce the work in question. The entitlement of workers paid under this
system is uprated by 20%. This means that the number reached after
dividing
the NMW by the average hourly output rate must be multiplied by 1.2 in
order
to calculate the fair piece rate.
There are no
exemptions from paying the NMW on the grounds of the size of
the business.
Who does not have to be paid the National Minimum Wage?
- The genuinely
self-employed.
- Company directors who
do not have contracts of employment.
- Some apprentices, for
example those under 19.
- Training or work
experience under a government employment program.
- Students doing work
experience as part of a higher education course, if the work
experience does not last longer than a year.
- People living and
working within the family, for example au pairs.
- Friends and
neighbours helping out under informal arrangements.
- Members of the armed
forces.
- Share fishermen.
- Prisoners.
- Volunteers and
voluntary workers.
- Religious and other
communities.
Please note that
HMRC have the power to serve an enforcement notice
requiring the payment of at least the NMW, including arrears, to all
family
members working for a limited company.
Companies Act 2006 Update
Late Filing Penalty Increases
Section 441 of the Companies Act 2006 requires all companies to
deliver
annual accounts to the Registrar of Companies by the due date. Section
453
states that a penalty is payable if the accounts are delivered late. From
1
February 2009, new penalty rates came into force.
How
late are the
accounts delivered |
Penalty:
Private Company |
Penalty:
PLC |
| Not more than one month |
£150 |
£750 |
More than one month but
not more than three months |
£375 |
£1500 |
More than three months
but
not more than six months |
£750 |
£3000 |
| More than six months |
£1500 |
£7500 |
The amounts set out in the table will be doubled in cases where:
-
The accounts are filed late under the Companies Act 2006;
and
-
The previous years accounts under the 2006 act (i.e. for a
financial year beginning on or after 6 April 2008), were
also late.
For example:
A private company files accounts which are more than 6 months late under
the
Companies Act 2006 and incurs a penalty of £1,500.
The following year, the same private company files accounts 2 months late
under the Companies Act 2006. We double the usual penalty of £375 for
that
set of accounts and the company incurs a penalty of £750.
The double penalty will only apply to accounts not filed or filed late in
2
successive financial periods under the Companies Act 2006.
Annual Return Changes from 1 October 2008
From 1 October 2008, shareholders in private limited companies
will no longer
have to put their addresses on the annual return form. The reason for
this is that
since the annual return from is placed on the public record any
information
about shareholders that is not required by statute would be in breach of
the
Data Protection Act.
Filing Date Change
For financial years that start before 6 April 2008, for a
private company you
must normally deliver annual accounts to Companies House within ten
months
of a company’s accounting reference date.
For financial
years that start after 6 April 2008,
the time limit has been
changed to within 9 months of a company’s accounting reference date.
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