Employers paying below legal minimum often use disability of workers as excuse

Employers that pay people less than the minimum wage often say they are doing so because a worker is disabled, the government said today. 

The excuse features in a Department of Trade and Industry list of the top 10 “unusual or outlandish” defences used by employers to explain why they have breached the national minimum wage rules.

It follows a government report earlier this month that warned a “worrying” number of employment providers were paying people with learning difficulties less than the minimum wage of £5.05 an hour.