Low Pay Commission

The research paints a striking picture.

The Low Pay Commission found that nearly 400,000 employees were paid less than the minimum wage in 2024 alone, and the Resolution Foundation estimates that 900,000 workers a year have their holiday pay withheld, worth around £2 billion.

For many businesses, it isn't deliberate.

Employment regulation is complex, it changes regularly, and businesses have different levels of resource available to respond to the requirements.

It did introduce a minimum wage, but that was set at a pretty low level.

And the Low Pay Commission were given the instruction that they should always bear in mind the labour market effects of the minimum wage in setting and making a recommendation.

So at the early part of this century, we were doing okay, I think.

What we have seen, I think, over the last 20 years, and particularly since the financial crisis, we have seen year on year more regulations tying up the way in which employers can offer work to people.