Part of Employment Bill [Lords] – in a Public Bill Committee am 5:15 pm ar 14 Hydref 2008.
Accommodation was discussed in another place, too. If an employer or landlord is providing free accommodation in return for the work, the worker would be entitled to the minimum wage. That is the case regardless of whether the worker is employed elsewhere. We took the view that to make provision otherwise would enable employers to provide accommodation in return for work rather than pay the worker a wage. All the way through the Bill, we are trying to strike a balance between appropriately supporting voluntary work and workers without sanctioning a sub-minimum wage and a series of jobs emerging around the voluntary sector. That will apply to child care, travel expenses and accommodation, where the rent is paid directly to a landlord. In the round, we think that that is the right balance to have struck.