Major job boards for IT contractors ‘advertising salaried jobs below National Minimum Wage’

The TUC is accusing Reed, Indeed and CV-Library of posting salaried roles that appear to flout National Minimum Wage legislation.

Three job boards used by IT contractors have been found by a probe to advertise roles that allegedly flout National Minimum Wage laws.

Reed, Indeed and CV-Library posted between them a total of 46 jobs that appear to pay less than £11.44 an hour — the NMW since April 6th.

The Trades Union Congress, which ran the probe, conceded its search of the job board trio was “non-exhaustive”.

‘Could be the tip of the iceberg’

But the TUC also said it detected the 46 full-time jobs in a single day (during July 2024).

The union says the 46 seemingly non-NMW-compliant jobs “could be the tip of the iceberg.”

So the TUC wants the incoming Fair Work Agency to take action.

The union says it fears “dozens of non-compliant jobs [may be] being posted” on the three job boards “every week.”

‘Not statistically significant’

With 40 years’ experience as an IT contractor, Alan Watts told ITContracting.com that even if it is “dozens,” in addition to the 46, it is “not statistically significant.”

He says: “NMW enforcement and advice are [key]… but 46 job ads on sites collectively advertising hundreds of thousands of jobs…doesn’t shout ‘major scandal.’”

Watts took issue, too, with the methodology, as the TUC deduced that salaries sub-£20,820,20, full-time for 35hrs a week, flout the NMW.

‘Potentially misleading’

“Simply annualising the [hourly] pay and extrapolating that to an annual salary is potentially misleading,” says Watts, a now retired service management consultant.

“And I’m not convinced that the TUC’s related fears of discrimination are entirely supportable either.

“Remember, an online job board advert doesn’t clarify the [candidate] age — as indeed it cannot do, nor [always] the expected hours of work.”

‘Could be unlawful due to indirect indiscrimination’

In the probe, the TUC said the salaries of the 46 jobs could only meet minimum wage requirements for under 21-year-olds (£8.60 for 18-20-year-olds; £6.40 for 16-17-year-olds and apprentices).

So while workers aged under 21 can be paid less than £11.44 an hour, “advertising roles at lower rates potentially excludes older workers and could be unlawful due to indirect discrimination,” the TUC said.

Out of the 46 jobs seemingly flouting NMW legislation, 26 stated experience is “required”, and three described experience as “desirable”, the union said.

‘Professional certification’

Seven of the roles asked for qualifications, including “professional certification” and degree requirements.

The TUC also said that 10 of the 46 jobs specified annual salaries or salary “starting points” under £20k.

Chris Sebok, a software delivery consultant is concerned.

‘Filtering applicants’

In a statement, he told ITContracting.com: “There may be an element of these minimum wage jobs being aimed at workers under 21, who do not need to be paid [£11.44 an hour].

“This, in and of itself, is a worry because it screams discrimination.

“So agencies and employers are [seemingly] filtering applicants based on their age and / or experience.”

‘Nobody should be cheated out of their pay’

TUC general secretary Paul Nowak says “nobody” should be “cheated” out of their pay by an employer.

“But our [probe] has found that lots of employers are advertising jobs at less than the legal minimum wage,” Mr Nowak said.

“Workers are not the only victims. These pay cheats undercut all those good employers who do the right thing. And that creates unfair competition.

“The new Fair Work Agency is a chance for the government to crack down on offenders and ensure all workers are paid at least the legal minimum.”

‘Regulate more, if you want to make everbody poor’

A software engineering consultant isn’t so sure about the idea of ‘lumbering’ a government quango with a problem before the quango is up and running.

“I’m all in favour of obeying the law [on the NMW],” added the consultant, Russell Gilbert.

“But if you want to make everybody, other than the rich and the ruling, poor — then regulate more.

“If you want to raise wages, focus on productivity. And if the government wants more productivity, it needs to get out of the way.

“As [former US president] Ronald Reagan once said, the nine most terrifying words in the English language are; ‘I’m from the Government and I’m here to help.’”

‘We are part of the problem’

Despite being tongue-in-cheek, Gilbert’s implication that industry and not government is better placed to fix sub-NMW job postings was countered by his other gripe.

“We should all remember, when we buy the cheapest product or service,” warned the software consultant, listed on LinkedIn as ‘Open To Work,’ “there’s a good chance that we’re part of the problem.”

But by that thinking, candidates who apply for any of the 46 seemingly non-minimum wage compliant roles are part of the problem too.

‘Grateful to have an income’

Watts says that right now, there are extenuating circumstances that probably let candidates off the hook of complicity, however.

“In today’s [very challenging] labour market, [applicants] may well just be grateful to have an income,” he said.

Fresh from looking to wind-up his software delivery company — a move he blames on the April 6^th 2021 private sector off-payroll working rules, Sebok echoed the difficulties that candidates currently face.

‘High skilled IT jobs advertised at well under market rate’

“Even high skilled jobs are being advertised at well under market rate at present;” Sebok yesterday told ITContracting.com.

“Developer contracts for just £150 a day, senior developer jobs for £40,000 a year or less.

“The market has gone doolally, [although that’s] likely because employers know they can get away with it at the moment.

“Candidates are desperate for work, competition is fierce, and — as the adage goes – ‘business is business.’ We are all pawns in someone else’s game.”

‘Level of oversight’

The Fair Work Agency (FWA) is Labour’s new name for the Single Enforcement Body (SEB), which the previous government mooted (but never established) to regulate umbrella companies.

The FWA, like the SEB, is expected to house HMRC’s NMW enforcement team, the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority, and the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate.

Watts reflected: “The NLW legislation surely already has some level of oversight built in, so what will Labour’s new quango be doing differently [if it does agree to take a look at these three job boards]?

“It’s not like employers aren’t already aware of the NMW rules. And it’s not like droves of employers have been prosecuted for paying under the NMW, despite a big ‘naming and shaming’ exercise earlier this year.”

Statement from Indeed.com

All three job boards named in the TUC probe have been invited to comment.

A spokesperson for Indeed.com told ITContracting.com:

“Indeed strives to ensure that the jobs posted on our site are of the highest quality possible, and as such has implemented many different job posting policies and moderation measures.

“Job posts that advertise pay below the minimum wage are not eligible for visibility on Indeed’s site in the UK.

“Indeed’s Trust & Safety team works diligently to identify and remove job postings that do not meet this policy from our site. For example, Indeed’s Trust & Safety team have implemented measures that automatically flag job postings that may not meet our standards for moderation. These measures are updated annually to reflect the National Living Wage.

“Additionally, Indeed’s Trust & Safety team takes minimum wage nuances into consideration when reviewing job posts, including accounting for job types that may offer a standard lower wage, such as apprenticeships or part-time roles. Indeed’s Trust & Safety team also reviews job posts reported by users through the ‘report job’ link at the bottom of a job posting.”

The Indeed spokesperson directed prospective users of its site who want more details to its “Job Posting Standards,” which outlines a few policies which the spokesperson said — if not met — may impact a job post’s visibility.

Statement from CV-Library

A spokesperson for CV-Library told ITContracting.com:

“We have checks and processes in place to ensure all job postings on CV-Library are compliant with the National Living Wage.

“This includes an automatic prompt system – if a recruiter using our platform tries to post a job with a salary that falls under the National Living Wage, the job post will fail due to not meeting the minimum hourly wage and they will receive a message to correct this. Our Customer Service team also regularly screens our on-site postings to ensure compliance.

“In a small number of instances, there may be jobs with a salary range advertised with a lower end above the National Minimum Wage but below the National Living Wage (e.g. £17,000 – £30,000 per annum). This is where an employer is open to hiring workers under 21 and would adjust salary based on their age, while remaining compliant.”

Statement from Reed

A spokesperson for Reed told ITContracting.com:

“We are investigating the [16] job advertisements which have been brought to our attention by the TUC.

“We have a rigorous process and filters in place to ensure that employers and recruitment agencies who place adverts on our site do not use language that is inappropriate or misleading.

“At any one time, Reed.co.uk has over 150,000 jobs live on its site and as such the content of job posts is ultimately the responsibility of our clients as stated in our terms and conditions.

“However we take this situation very seriously and our investigation will determine whether the information given in the specified adverts on pay in relation to the National Living Wage and National Minimum Wage is appropriate or not. If any of these adverts are found to be in breach of any of our rules, the recruiter will be suspended from our site and the roles will be removed. At Reed.co.uk we want all applicants to jobs posted on our site to receive the correct salary and we do not condone any attempts by unscrupulous employers to get around this.”