228.Section 22 will amend the National Minimum Wage Act 1998 to exempt residential members of religious and other similar communities. The exemption will apply to individuals if:
	the community of which they are a member is a charity or is established by a charity (but is not an independent school or a community which provides a course of further or higher education);
	a purpose of the community is to practise or advance a religious or similar belief; and
	all or some of the members live together for that purpose.
The exemption was recommended by the Low Pay Commission in their report “The National Minimum Wage Accommodation Offset. A Review by the Low Pay Commission” (Cm 4321, March 1999) and was announced by the Secretary of State in his response to that report on 31 March 1999 (Commons Hansard WA cols 812-813).
Commentary on Sections Leave for family reasons Section 22: National Minimum Wage: Communities