LABOUR must crackdown on the growing number of businesses offering jobs on less than the national minimum wage, says the TUC in a new report today.

The union federation warned dozens of non-compliant vacancies offering less than the £11.44 per hour are being posted on major job sites every week.

TUC researchers found 46 full-time jobs advertised on less than the annualised minimum wage of £20,820 on a single day in July on three major job sites: Reed, Indeed, and CV-Library.

Many were office jobs targeted at recent graduates or experienced workers.

TUC general secretary Paul Nowak said: “Nobody should be cheated out of the pay they are owed by their employer.

“But our research has found that lots of employers are advertising jobs at less than the legal minimum wage.

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

Of the 46 adverts, 26 stated that experience is required and a further three that experience is desirable. 

Seven listed requirements for qualifications, including professional certification and degree requirements.

And 10 advertised annual salaries, or starting points in salary ranges, that are less than £20,000, including one for a graduate copywriter in Hampshire, giving an annual salary range between £15,000 and £20,000.

Another, for an assistant accountant with a minimum of two years’ experience, gave a salary range of £16,770 to £22,308.

The TUC believes this could be the tip of the iceberg, with dozens of non-compliant jobs being posted on boards every week, and has called on government to crack down on minimum wage breaches as part of its commitment to a New Deal for Working People.

Ministers must take “robust action to ensure that those on internships are paid at least the national minimum wage,” it said.

“While workers aged under 21 can be paid lower rates of the minimum wage, advertising roles at lower rates potentially excludes older workers and could be unlawful due to indirect discrimination.

“The prevalence of jobs advertised at less than the National Living Wage, suggesting that a growing number of salaried workers may now be experiencing underpayment, shows that a step change in enforcement is needed.”

The TUC warned the soon-to-be formed Fair Work Agency will need “significantly more inspectors than the current system, and stronger powers to punish employers who breach the law” in order to be effective.

The government announced legislation in the King’s Speech to create a the body, which is expected to be a single inspectorate formed from the HMRC National Minimum Wage enforcement team, Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority, and the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate.

Mr Nowak described the new body as “a chance for the government to crack down on offenders and ensure all workers are paid at least the legal minimum.”

The Low Pay Commission has estimated that 29 per cent of jobs which pay at or below the minimum wage are salaried roles, as opposed to insecure or illegal employment.

Institute of Employment Rights director James Harrison said: “If employers can’t afford to pay the minimum wage, then they can’t afford to be in business.

“It’s economically illiterate on so many levels. These rates are the bare minimum for the work undertaken, not a maximum.

“This points to the urgent need for properly structured and resourced minimum wage enforcement in the short-term (with teeth!), as well as the need for sectoral collective bargaining across all employment sectors to set a floor of pay and rights which no employer can go below.

“This would ensure employers compete on investment, efficiency, and ingenuity rather than picking workers’ pockets to artificially boost profits."

A spokeswoman for Momentum said: “These are damning statistics that prove workers are still bearing the brunt of 14 years of Tory misrule.

“Although we welcome the Labour government’s decision to implement above-inflation pay rises to millions of workers, it must go a step further and crack down on employers who pay workers below the minimum wage.

“This can be done by rolling out the New Deal for Working People in full and increasing the minimum wage to £15 per hour.

“All workers deserve fair pay and conditions, and the Labour government must work collaboratively with trade unions to ensure workers’ rights are at the forefront.”