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ARE YOU PAYING THE CORRECT MINIMUM WAGE?
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A recruitment company has warned that the new minimum wage means employers who are paying salaries rather than hourly rates could be unknowingly breaking the law and risking a serious fine. “With the increase in the minimum wage, farmers who are paying salaries and expecting people to work 50 to 60 hours a week are in serious danger of paying that person below the minimum wage,” explained Paul Harris, CEO at staff specialist REAL Success. “For someone working a 55-hour week, which is common in the agricultural sector, the minimum wage for someone over 21 years old would be £32,718.40,” he explained. “But for someone working 37.5 hours a week, which is more of a standard week, the minimum wage would be £22,308.” If accommodation is provided with the job, however, there could be an accommodation offset. “This is £69.93 a week, which can be added to the salary if the person is not contributing to the accommodation, and assuming the person lives in the accommodation full-time,” Paul explained. REAL Success provides recruitment and people development support,
working primarily in the agriculture sector. “The issue is that the industry needs to face up to the fact that people cannot be working for 10 days on and two days off, with 10-hour days; people need to be working shorter weeks,” Paul said. It is a criminal offence for employers not to pay the minimum wage or national living wage. “Farmers need to check now if their staff are being paid the right amount of money,” he added.
PASSING WITH FLYING COLOURS
Amy Cowdell, partner and head of agriculture at full-service law firm Shakespeare Martineau, is celebrating success after passing her Agricultural Law Association (ALA) Fellowship exam with flying colours. The ALA is the UK’s largest inter-professional organisation devoted to the law and business of the countryside and accepts just 20 candidates for the fellowship each year. The course puts lawyers through their paces at a two-week residential course relating to various aspects of agricultural practice, from litigation and tax to succession planning and landed estates. The fellowship builds strategic and technical competence, enabling successful candidates to advise those in the rural sector better. Amy said: “Being an agricultural lawyer
is different to other disciplines as we are servicing a sector with a variety of considerations to take into account, not least the interplay between running a successful farming enterprise and managing multigenerational family dynamics along the way. “It’s crucial to consider all aspects of their farming business and family succession and the impact certain schemes and dispositions may have on that. I wanted to do the course to expand my own knowledge to ensure I can give the best possible and full-rounded advice to clients. I am absolutely thrilled to have my expertise recognised as a Fellow of the ALA.” With almost 20 years’ experience, Amy specialises in agricultural property law including buying and selling farms and estates, agricultural tenancies and
MAY 2024 | WWW.SOUTHEASTFARMER.NET
Agricultural Holdings Act tenancy matters, easements, bank security work and advising on diversification projects such as commercial lettings, biodiversity net gain and selling land for development.