New legislation has been issued in relation to workers who ‘live-in’ with their employer and the national minimum wage (NMW) and national living wage (NLW).
Coming into force on 1 April 2024, the National Minimum Wage (Amendment) Regulations 2024 (SI.No.75/2024) amend the National Minimum Wage Regulations 2015 (SI.No.621/2015) (the 2015 Regulations) to remove paragraph 57(3), which exempts work done by a worker residing in their employer’s home who is treated as a member of the family as ‘work’ for the purposes of the 2015 Regulations.
The explanatory memorandum accompanying the regulations says that the effect of the change is that –
‘… these workers will be performing ‘work’ for the purposes of the 2015 Regulations and be entitled to the NMW/NLW for time spent doing work which previously did not attract the NMW or NLW. We refer to removing paragraph 57(3) as removing the ‘live-in domestic worker exemption’.’
The explanatory memorandum also summarises the reasons for removing the exemption –
‘The exemption was introduced to facilitate au pair relationships and supported by associated immigration provisions which were in place at the time. In au pair arrangements, a young person stays with a host family abroad and helps with childcare and light housework while being treated as a member of the family.
… The exemption has been shown to enable some exploitation as some employers do not genuinely treat workers as a member of the family, but this is difficult for workers to prove. The exemption can therefore provide a loophole for employers, allowing them to require live-in domestic workers such as housekeepers and cleaners to work long hours for low pay without any intention of cultural exchange.’
SI.No.75/2024 is available from legislation.gov.uk
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