Coalition calls on government to deliver its commitment to remove the Family Worker Exemption
/We have written to Grant Shapps MP, Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, calling on him to deliver on the government’s commitment to remove the ‘Family Worker Exemption’ from National Minimum Wage regulations as a matter of urgency.
Alongside Voice of Domestic Workers, Nanny Solidarity Network, Kalayaan, the IWGB, the TUC, Focus on Labour Exploitation (FLEX) and the Women’s Budget Group, we reminded the government that it has been eight months since it promised to legislate to remove the exemption, but no visible steps have been taken to lay down an amendment yet.
The ‘Family Worker Exemption’, contained in the National Minimum Wage Regulations 2015 provides that live-in domestic workers are not entitled to receive the National Minimum Wage, or any salary at all, if the domestic worker is ‘treated as a member of the family.’
ATLEU has long litigated and campaigned for the removal of the Family Worker Exemption because it was frequently used as a defence by abusive employers of live-in domestic workers and was a significant barrier in access to justice and remedy.
In July 2020, ATLEU successfully challenged the lawfulness of the exemption in the case of Ms K Puthenveetil v (1) Mr Santosh Alexander, (2) Ms Riya George, (3) Secretary of State of Business Energy and Industrial Strategy Case No. 2361118/2013. We argued that it was discriminatory as it resulted in greater numbers of women than men being excluded from an entitlement to the National Minimum Wage or indeed, any salary at all.
As a result of this groundbreaking judgment, the government asked the Low Pay Commission to investigate. In October 2021, the Low Pay Commission found that the exemption provided a loophole for the exploitation of live-in domestic workers, that it was ‘not fit for purpose’ and that it should be removed in its entirety.
On 10 March 2022, the government publicly accepted the Low Pay Commission's recommendation. Paul Scully MP, then Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, announced in Parliament:
‘We have accepted that recommendation, and will introduce legislation to remove the live-in domestic worker exemption when parliamentary time allows.’
The time for action is now!
The government’s delay in legislating to remove the exemption means that live-in domestic workers currently have no clear right to the minimum wage or indeed any salary at all, leaving them open to exploitation. The exemption must be removed as soon as possible.
