A nationwide advertising campaign to raise awareness around workers‘ rights around pay has just been launched by the government.
The campaign has started ahead of the rise in national minimum and national living wage rates on April 1, and they will be on public transport, in shopping centres and other public places.
It‘s the government‘s latest phase in raising awareness around the minimum wage, after it published a list earlier this month that named and shamed companies that failed to meet the national living wage.
READ MORE: The National Living Wage & National Minimum Wage explained
Debenhams and Peacocks were among those named in the list of 360 companies, while Argos was later caught out by the HMRC.Debenhams said the issue related to a technical error in its payroll calculations and reimbursed staff that were affected, while Peacocks said it was a timing issue based on the preferences of its employees and that no one had been underpaid.
Meanwhile Argos said their error was picked up just before Sainsbury‘s acquired the retailer, and vowed to raise the pay of its lowest-paid workers by two per cent – from £7.20 to £7.66 per hour – ahead of April‘s rise in the minimum wage to £7.50.#
READ MORE: Argos forced to pay £2.4 million back to underpayed employees
In a survey of more than 1400 workers earning less than £15,000, the government found that were confused about when they should be paid and what deductions from their pay packets can legally be made – such as uniform purchases or travel time between appointments.
“This campaign will raise awareness among the lowest paid people in society about what they must legally receive,” Business Minister Margot James said.
She added that anyone who thinks they may be paid less than the legal minimum should contact Acas, the organisation that works to prevent and resolve employment disputes.
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