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Au pair/domestic workers in the UK are entitled to the National Minimum Wage

We were approached recently by a client who was a live-in domestic worker. She had been working approximately 60 hours per week, and receiving payment amounting to £1.92 per hour – well below the national minimum wage of £8.72 per hour. Her employer suggested that the worker was not entitled to the national minimum wage, because of the ‘au pair/domestic worker’ exemption.

Our support and recommendation

In order to clarify her legal entitlements, EERC immediately contacted solicitors from the Anti-Trafficking and Labour Exploitation Unit (ATLEU). ATLEU have confirmed that in accordance with the latest case law (Puthenveettil v Alexander & George, & Others 2361118/2013) the exemption is likely to be found unlawful. As a result, according to a recent article published in The Guardian, the UK Government has now asked the Low Pay Commission to make recommendations for amending the exemption in accordance with the judgment.

“The exemption, which was originally designed to apply to au pairs, applies to workers who live in an employer’s family home and are treated “as a member of the family” and benefit from accommodation and meals. But the tribunal heard that the rule has also been applied to maids and other servants, many of whom are migrants.“ As advised by ATLEU, “[t]his is a loophole that has been a conduit to slavery. Traffickers have used [it] to bring in women to households who suffer all kinds of abuses.”

Whilst changes to the exemption are to be made, in the meantime the suggestion that live in domestic workers are not entitled to the national minimum wage should be resisted.

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CASE STUDY: Building Confidence

In early 2017 we have started a mentoring project delivering a job seeking support programme for disadvantaged Eastern European migrants.

We support and advise people on their journey to integration in the UK, we want to develop people’s skills, confidence, experience and capacity to lead fulfilled lives as contributing members of local communities.

L, a young woman from Romania came to us after being unlawfully dismissed from her job from a Romanian bakery in north London. She was told not to come to work the next day and not given a proper reason. Our work rights adviser helped her with this case and managed to get her pay for 2 weeks of notice that she was entitled to.

But after this episode, L was demoralised, afraid to look for another job, disappointed. She had done nothing wrong and she thought she was friends with the people who owned the business.

She started building her confidence back when she got the money from her ex employer, in her words: “I was happy to find out that I had rights and that there’s organisations such as yours who can help people understand their rights and demand them.”

Meanwhile, we matched her with an experienced volunteer that helped her develop a good CV and portfolio of her work as a baker. In a matter of weeks, she found another job to match her skills and experience. She now works in a multicultural environment and is able to practice her English every day as well. Her job is better paid and she enjoys it more than the last one.

Her mentor helped her build back her confidence and played a key role in L. getting back on her feet again.

Often, Eastern European migrants find jobs within their social networks. Although this works out OK for some, for many it becomes a story of exploitation.

Exploitation within communities is fairly common with Eastern Europeans and it results from barriers to access to the open British labour market, such as lack of language skills or unfamiliarity with recruitment practices and processes. Moreover, it is very common among British employers to employ an Eastern European supervisor or line manager who also participates in exploitation.

With our support L. managed to break this cycle and better her life.

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CASE STUDY: Council Tax Costs Lead Many Disadvantaged Eastern Europeans to Serious Debt Issues

Last week, Trust for London and IPPR released a report which stated that “6 times more council tax is paid by the poorest than the richest Londoners as a proportion of income.” On average the poorest 10% of households in London see 8.1% of their income before housing costs swallowed up by council tax, the think tank said.

We have noticed in the last year that more and more of our clients cannot afford to pay their council tax. Many of them are not aware they are entitled to council tax support, but many times people are not.

Moreover, because of budget cuts from local councils, local authorities cannot really afford to lose any penny and often require the services of debt collection companies, instead of trying to arrange payment with people

A report from Money Advice Trust found that nearly 6 in 10 of the 2.14 million debts referred to enforcement agents in 2014/15 were for council tax. Often the local council is the organisation that will be the most aggressive in chasing people if they fall into financial difficulty. If for some people this might come as a shock, we are all too familiar with this problems in our centre.

Case Study: Mrs T

Mrs. T, Romanian national, came to our centre with a considerable debt for council tax, from her previous accommodation. She and her husband weren’t able to pay the council tax for a couple of months. They had 3 children, one of them with special needs, and she was a stay-at-home mother. She has meanwhile separated form her husband, who has disappeared from the picture, and is not supporting her financially. Mrs T works part-time to be able to take care of her children financially. The council tax debt was already with the debt collection company when she received our advice.

EERC’s Observations

These companies are harder to negotiate with, they are often quite unreasonable, and in this case, they still sent the bailiffs knocking, even though we contacted them in time. The reason for this was that there was some delay with her sending some papers over to them. Moreover, because they weren’t able to locate her husband, they refused to divide the debt in two, making Mrs T responsible for the whole debt. She came to EERC really anxious about the bailiffs coming to her door, and reported that they took away her only valuable possession, a TV which the children really enjoy watching.

We tried to talk to her local council to recall the debt from the debt collection company, explaining the situation, but they were unable to do it.

Our Reccommendations

We are calling for council tax reform, which will take disadvantaged people into consideration. We also urge for the practice of bailiffs being brought in by local authorities to collect debts to stop, or our recocommendation is that they only be used as a last resort, to give disadvantaged people a fair opportunity.

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CASE STUDY: Mr. Gardener

Mr. “Gardener” came to us in grave risk of homelessness and destitution. He is still visiting our centre regularly for help. This is his story:

In November 2014, Mr. “Gardener”, Polish national, came to us seeking advice. He came to the UK in 2006 and worked as a self-employed builder, often more than 45 h/week until September 2014, when his back problems started. His friends advised him to claim Job Seekers Allowance, telling him not to reveal his health problems.

When he came to us, we advised him to take sick leave, and after he got it, we immediately claimed Employment and Support Allowance. Moreover, we managed to convince DWP that Mr.” Gardener” claimed JSA by mistake and to consider his ESA claim as starting when his initial claim was made. The ESA claim was successful and the client got backdated payment after Christmas 2014. His case took a turn for the worst when we also applied for housing benefits, which he as entitled to. Although he had all his papers in order (tax returns and contributions), he was refused by Ealing Council because he is not a British Citizen and was not in full employment at that moment.

Knowing very well this is against EU regulations, we appealed to the council for a mandatory reconsideration of this decision which remained unanswered until May 2015, when we also made an official online complain. By this time Mr. “Gardener’s” situation was desperate, as he already had an eviction notice from his landlord because he was unable to pay his rent all this time. The lawyer we found was able to postpone his eviction, but not to annul it. Eventually, on the 15th of June 2015, the decision regarding Mr. “Gardener’s” Housing Benefits was changed as a result of our online complaint and he received his benefits dating back 28th of October 2014.

Unfortunately, it was too late for our client, as the landlord already had permission from the court to evict him by this time. Moreover, the backdated benefits couldn’t go to his account, but to the landlord’s account, even though he was evicted, making Mr. Gardener homeless. Ealing Council provided him with a temporary accommodation in a hostel not suitable to his needs. He stayed there until 18th of February 2016 when he was provided with a studio flat owned by a private landlord with a rent of £306/week, fortunately entirely covered by housing benefits. His previous flat, would’ve only costed the council £70/week in housing benefits. Eastern Europeans are in a higher risk of destitution.

In London , about 35% of rough sleepers are from East European countries. (Crisis, 2015)

As a result of all these problems and his precarious situation, Mr. “Gardener” started drinking and became an alcoholic again after 9 years and almost became permanently homeless. He was very sad he had to leave his old apartment, where he had a little garden where he liked to grow vegetables, activity which kept him away from alcohol and made him happy. Apart from his very few friends here, we were his main support in these very hard times. His case worker’s relentless dedication and persistence kept him afloat all this time. Without us he would’ve been destitute or even homeless. His very determined case worker managed to put his life back on track.

Unfortunately, Polish Nationals are often discriminated against by local authorities when applying for benefits in the UK, either because of a lack of knowledge, or because of systemic discrimination. The EERC is constantly fighting against such practices and is trying to influence policies that deal with systemic discrimination.