Emily Thornberry – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-12-02.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 26 November 2015 to Question 16850, how many (a) Notices of Underpayment and (b) financial penalties were issued to employers by HM Revenue and Customs for non-compliance with minimum wage legislation in 2014-15.

Mr David Gauke

The Government is committed to increasing compliance with minimum wage legislation and effective enforcement of it. Everyone who is entitled to the minimum wage should receive it. Employers who pay workers less than the minimum wage not only have to pay back arrears of wages at current minimum wage rates but also face financial penalties of up to £20,000 per underpaid worker.

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) enforces the national minimum wage (NMW) legislation on behalf of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS). It does so by investigating all complaints made about employers suspected of not paying the minimum wage, and carrying out targeted enforcement where it identifies a high risk of non-payment of NMW across the whole of the UK.

I refer the honourable member to the answer provided at UIN 28587 for information on recovery of arrears and on the number of incidences of non-compliance on 26 November 2015.

In 2014/15, HMRC issued financial penalties on 735 employers totalling £934,660 for non-compliance with NMW legislation.

In 2014/15, HMRC completed 2,204 investigations as part of its duty to enforce minimum wage legislation.

Any worker who believes that they are being paid below the minimum wage should contact Acas on 0300 123 1100. HMRC reviews every complaint that Acas refer to it but these may not always lead to an investigation. In 2014/15, HMRC received 2489 worker complaints via the helpline.