NMWM05350 - Entitlement to National Minimum Wage: workers participating in a scheme after being homeless or residing in a hostel for homeless persons

Relevant legislation

The legislation that applies to this page is as follows:

• National Minimum Wage Regulations 2015, regulation 55

General

A worker who is provided with shelter and other benefits (including monetary benefits) as a result of participating in a scheme does not qualify for the National Minimum Wage in respect of work performed for his employer under such a scheme, providing that both of the following conditions are met;

[1] Immediately before joining the scheme;

• the worker was either homeless or residing in a hostel for homeless persons, and
• the worker was either:

• In receipt of (or entitled to) income support or income based jobseeker’s allowance, or
• Was not entitled to receive either of those benefits only because he was not habitually resident in the UK.

[2] The scheme itself satisfies all the following criteria;

• it has arrangements in place to prevent the scheme operators or any other person profiting from the provision of the scheme unless:

• any profit is only applied to run the scheme or similar schemes (run under these same arrangements), or
• the scheme is a charity whose purpose is wholly or partly to alleviate poverty.

• all the participants qualify under [1] above;
• the person operating the scheme must provide the accommodation (or make it available under arrangements between themselves and another person);
• the work done under the scheme must be both provided by, and performed for, the person operating the scheme.