My fiancé and I have been doing research and we’ve found out that this “legal loophole” practice is in fact illegal. We’re going to report the company to the relevant government agency, and trust me when I say I will not hold back a single detail from my report. Employees deserve so much better than this.
Also, I sent an email back to my boss saying their work practices were unfair, dubious and illegal. Lol. If I get a reply I’ll edit it in here.
Hopefully my former colleagues can expect a pay rise soon 🙂