Reform say they ‘clamp down’ on any abuse of a proposed £5 billion tax break for workers doing extra hours, Robert Jenrick has said.
The ‘hard work bonus’ would create a tax-free allowance for overtime above a 40-hour week for workers earning less than £75,000.
Reform has aimed the plan at attracting more voters in Labour’s former industrial heartlands as it seeks to prevent Andy Burnham winning the Makerfield by-election.
Responding to the suggestion that employers could decide to pay workers’ first 40 hours at minimum wage and then pay overtime at an exorbitant rate, Mr Jenrick told Sky News’ Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips yesterday:
“We don’t think that’s what’s going to happen. There will be anti-avoidance measures in place.”
The Reform Treasury spokesman added: “We’ve allocated £5 billion to this and that includes an apportionment for some reclassification of unpaid overtime to paid overtime, so we expect there will be some changes within the labour market, but if there is gaming of this, if there’s abuse, then obviously we’ll clamp down on that and we’ll work with HMRC and the Treasury when we enter government to make sure that we get that right.”
