There are constraints. Somebody would need to do the payroll - a benevolent local employer possibly? The national minimum wage is £5.73 an hour, but it is £4.77 for a teenager, and £3.53 for those who have left school but are under 18. The authorities, mainly Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs, are more interested in employers who are exploiting the system, therefore if they were taken on board right from the beginning, there should be no problems. Paying the workers £6 an hour would mean their contribution is valued, but it would not break the bank, and if people do not want to work, they do not have to. Presumably it would not count at the Department of Work and Pensions as an available job which all claimants have to apply for.
I still think it could be a win/win situation. |