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142586

	registered interest
	date	06/11/2014
	answering body	Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
	answering dept id	26
	answering dept short name	Business, Innovation and Skills
	answering dept sort name	Business, Innovation and Skills
	hansard heading	Minimum Wage
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Neville-Rolfe on 29 October (HL 2219), whether they have any plans to amend the minimum wage legislation to include interns and others not currently covered by it including those subject to the terms of the Ministerial and Other Salaries Act 1975.
	tabling member printed	Lord Jopling
	uin	HL2696
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/11/2014 answer text <p>Many interns are already entitled to the National Minimum Wage. The term “intern” is not defined in any legislation: entitlement to the minimum wage depends on whether or not an individual is a worker for minimum wage purposes.</p><p> </p><p>The National Minimum Wage applies to all workers unless a specific exemption applies. If an intern is a worker they will be entitled to the minimum wage. An applicable exemption would be students in further or higher education performing work-experience for a period not exceeding 12 months which is part of their studies. It can be legitimate for employers to offer unpaid or ‘expenses-only’ opportunities in some circumstances – in particular where the individual is acting as a volunteer.</p><p> </p><p>Given this dependency on employment status, it is vital that employers and workers understand how this is determined. This is why last month, the Business Secretary announced a review of employment status, looking at how the system could be clarified, providing transparency for both individuals and employers. This is an internal review and findings will be presented to ministers early next year.</p><p> </p><p>There are currently no plans to specifically consider individuals covered by the Ministerial and Other Salaries Act 1975.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Neville-Rolfe question first answered 20/11/2014 16:01:07 answering member 4284 label Biography information for Baroness Neville-Rolfe
	tabling member	883 label Biography information for Lord Jopling

167253

	registered interest
	date	02/12/2014
	answering body	Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
	answering dept id	26
	answering dept short name	Business, Innovation and Skills
	answering dept sort name	Business, Innovation and Skills
	hansard heading	Minimum Wage
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what recent steps they have taken to improve enforcement of the national minimum wage.
	tabling member printed	Lord Browne of Belmont
	uin	HL3354
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 11/12/2014 answer text <p>HM Revenue and Customs enforces the National Minimum Wage for all workers and investigates every complaint made to the Pay and Work Rights helpline. In addition, HMRC conducts pro-active enforcement in sectors or areas where there is a higher risk of workers not getting paid the legal minimum wage.</p><p> </p><p>The Government is taking a tough approach towards employers that do not comply with the National Minimum Wage (NMW) law, including through making their non-compliance public. 55 employers have been named so far and between them they owed workers a total of over £139,000 in arrears.</p><p> </p><p>The Government has also increased the financial penalty percentage that employers pay for breaking minimum wage law from 50 per cent to 100 per cent of the unpaid arrears owed to workers and the maximum penalty from £5,000 to £20,000. This came into effect on 7 March 2014. We are introducing primary legislation so that the penalty can be calculated on a per worker basis.</p><p> </p><p>Any worker who thinks they are not being paid what they are legally entitled to can call the Pay and Work Right Helpline on 0800 917 2368. Employers can also call the helpline for free advice if they are unsure of their obligations.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Neville-Rolfe question first answered 11/12/2014 14:21:53 answering member 4284 label Biography information for Baroness Neville-Rolfe
	tabling member	3801 label Biography information for Lord Browne of Belmont

422128

	registered interest
	date	19/10/2015
	answering body	Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
	answering dept id	26
	answering dept short name	Business, Innovation and Skills
	answering dept sort name	Business, Innovation and Skills
	hansard heading	Minimum Wage
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to ensure that workers in the United Kingdom currently earning below the minimum wage receive the minimum wage.
	tabling member printed	Lord Ouseley
	uin	HL2748
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/10/2015 answer text <p>HMRC enforces the National Minimum Wage (NMW) and responds to every complaint it receives. It also conducts programmes of targeted enforcement in sectors of the economy which have a high risk of non-compliance with the NMW. The Government increased HMRC’s budget for enforcing the NMW by £4m for 2015/16 to £13.2m.</p><br /><p>The Government announced in September an increase in HMRC’s enforcement funding for 2016/17, following the introduction of the National Living Wage in April 2016. The Government also announced a package of measures to strengthen NMW enforcement: increasing penalties from 100% to 200% of the arrears that employers owe; the setting up of a dedicated team in HMRC focused on tackling the most serious cases of wilful non-compliance; and the creation of a statutory Director of Labour Market Enforcement and Exploitation.</p><br /> answering member printed Baroness Neville-Rolfe question first answered 29/10/2015 12:44:51 answering member 4284 label Biography information for Baroness Neville-Rolfe
	tabling member	2170 label Biography information for Lord Ouseley

387772

	registered interest
	date	06/07/2015
	answering body	Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
	answering dept id	26
	answering dept short name	Business, Innovation and Skills
	answering dept sort name	Business, Innovation and Skills
	hansard heading	Minimum Wage
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to the Answer of 29 January 2015 to Question 221930, how many of the employers issued with a Notice of Underpayment of the National Minimum Wage have been named under the Department's revised national minimum wage naming and shaming scheme; how many employers have been issued with such a notice since 29 January 2015; and how many of those employers have been named under that scheme.
	tabling member constituency	Brighton, Pavilion
	tabling member printed	Caroline Lucas
	uin	5609
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/07/2015 answer text <p>Since 1 October 2013, 210 employers have been named under the National Minimum Wage naming scheme.</p><p> </p><p>HMRC has issued 333 Notices of Underpayment (NoUs) since 29 January 2015. Of these, 274 were for investigations that commenced on or after 1 October 2013 and are therefore eligible for naming under the new scheme.</p><p> </p><p>Since 29 January 2015, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has named 118 employers, of which 4 employers were issued an NoU after that date. The Department expects to name more employers shortly.</p> answering member constituency Grantham and Stamford answering member printed Nick Boles question first answered 13/07/2015 11:56:27 answering member 3995 label Biography information for Nick Boles
	tabling member	3930 label Biography information for Caroline Lucas

416826

	registered interest
	date	04/09/2015
	answering body	Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
	answering dept id	26
	answering dept short name	Business, Innovation and Skills
	answering dept sort name	Business, Innovation and Skills
	hansard heading	Minimum Wage
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many employers have taken advantage of the national minimum wage campaign announced on 30 July to self-report their non-compliance with the national minimum wage; how many workers have been identified as having been underpaid by these employers; and what the total sum is of underpayments involved.
	tabling member constituency	Cardiff Central
	tabling member printed	Jo Stevens
	uin	8859
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/09/2015 answer text <p>The National Minimum Wage campaign launched on 29 July 2015. Information on the number of employers, workers covered and total arrears identified through the campaign will be made available when details for each voluntary disclosure have been finalised.</p><p> </p><p><strong> </strong></p><p> </p> answering member constituency Grantham and Stamford answering member printed Nick Boles question first answered 14/09/2015 14:45:25 answering member 3995 label Biography information for Nick Boles
	tabling member	4425 label Biography information for Jo Stevens

416827

	registered interest
	date	04/09/2015
	answering body	Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
	answering dept id	26
	answering dept short name	Business, Innovation and Skills
	answering dept sort name	Business, Innovation and Skills
	hansard heading	Minimum Wage
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the level of expenditure was on enforcement of the national minimum wage by HM Revenue and Customs in (a) 2013-14 and (b) 2014-15; and what the final budget is for such expenditure in 2015-16.
	tabling member constituency	Cardiff Central
	tabling member printed	Jo Stevens
	uin	8858
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/09/2015 answer text <p>The Government’s budget for HMRC’s enforcement of the National Minimum Wage has been:</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>(a) 2013-14 – £8.3m</p><p> </p><p>(b) 2014-15 – £9.2m</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The budget for 2015-16 was raised to £12.2m, and following an additional £1m announced in the Summer Budget, is now £13.2m.</p><p> </p><p><strong> </strong></p><p> </p> answering member constituency Grantham and Stamford answering member printed Nick Boles question first answered 14/09/2015 14:47:00 answering member 3995 label Biography information for Nick Boles
	tabling member	4425 label Biography information for Jo Stevens

381917

	registered interest
	date	17/06/2015
	answering body	Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
	answering dept id	26
	answering dept short name	Business, Innovation and Skills
	answering dept sort name	Business, Innovation and Skills
	hansard heading	Minimum Wage
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to ensure that employers comply with minimum wage legislation; and how many prosecutions there have been for non-compliance in each of the last five years.
	tabling member constituency	Coventry North East
	tabling member printed	Colleen Fletcher
	uin	2963
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/06/2015 answer text <p>The Government is committed to increasing compliance with National Minimum Wage legislation and the effective enforcement of it. HMRC responds to every complaint it receives and conducts risk-based enforcement in sectors or areas where there is perceived to be a higher risk of workers not being paid the National Minimum Wage.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Government has increased the NMW penalty so that employers that break the law face a penalty equivalent to the arrears they owe, up to a maximum penalty of £20,000 per worker.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Employers are also named publically under the Government’s NMW naming scheme for non-payment. So far, 210 employers have been named for non-payment of the National Minimum Wage and have been charged financial penalties totalling over £248,000. In total, HMRC has recovered over £57m in arrears for workers since 1999/2000.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Prosecution is reserved for the most serious cases. HMRC will refer cases to the Crown Prosecution Service who will decide whether to prosecute. Prosecution does not necessarily result in arrears being paid to workers.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The number of NMW prosecutions for non-compliance in each of the last five years is set out below:</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>2014: 0</p><p> </p><p>2013: 1</p><p> </p><p>2012: 0</p><p> </p><p>2011: 0</p><p> </p><p>2010: 1</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Anyone who thinks they might be entitled to the minimum wage but have not been paid it should call the ACAS Helpline on 0300 123 1100.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Grantham and Stamford answering member printed Nick Boles question first answered 22/06/2015 15:45:50 answering member 3995 label Biography information for Nick Boles
	tabling member	4378 label Biography information for Colleen Fletcher

416544

	registered interest
	date	04/09/2015
	answering body	Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
	answering dept id	26
	answering dept short name	Business, Innovation and Skills
	answering dept sort name	Business, Innovation and Skills
	hansard heading	Minimum Wage
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how he plans to respond to the concerns raised by the Low Pay Commission in the Report of March 2015, National Minimum Wage, Cm 9017, regarding problems meeting the existing National Minimum Wage in the social care sector.
	tabling member constituency	Dudley North
	tabling member printed	Ian Austin
	uin	8830
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 14/09/2015 answer text <p>We are working with the social care sector, including care providers from the voluntary sector, to ensure we understand fully how the introduction of the National Living Wage will affect them.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Grantham and Stamford answering member printed Nick Boles grouped question UIN 8834 question first answered 14/09/2015 15:32:25 answering member 3995 label Biography information for Nick Boles
	tabling member	1511 label Biography information for Lord Austin of Dudley

169368

	registered interest
	date	10/12/2014
	answering body	Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
	answering dept id	26
	answering dept short name	Business, Innovation and Skills
	answering dept sort name	Business, Innovation and Skills
	hansard heading	Minimum Wage
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will estimate the total income lost each year to employees who are entitled to but are not paid the National Minimum Wage.
	tabling member constituency	East Ham
	tabling member printed	Stephen Timms
	uin	218189
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/12/2014 answer text <p>There is no reliable estimate of the total income lost each year as a result of non-compliance with the National Minimum Wage.</p><p> </p><p>Office for National Statistics estimates of the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) show that there were 236,000 jobs with pay less than the NMW held by employees aged 16 and over in April 2014. This constituted 0.9% of UK employee jobs.</p><p> </p><p>However, although it is our best measure of earnings, ASHE is not a complete measure of non-compliance as, for example, it does not account for employers making authorised deductions for accommodation.</p><p> </p><p>Calculating the income lost would require more assumptions to be made about the level of underpayment for individual jobs and would be significantly less robust.</p><p> </p><p>We have increased the resources available for enforcement, strengthening HMRC’s capacity to investigate complaints and target employers where the likelihood of non-compliance is highest. We have also increased the sanctions for non-compliance. Employers will face a maximum penalty of £20,000 per worker and will be publicly named and shamed. Any worker who feels they are not getting what they are due can call the Pay and Work Rights Helpline on 0800 917 2368.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 15/12/2014 15:52:07 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
	tabling member	163 label Biography information for Sir Stephen Timms

169724

	registered interest
	date	11/12/2014
	answering body	Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
	answering dept id	26
	answering dept short name	Business, Innovation and Skills
	answering dept sort name	Business, Innovation and Skills
	hansard heading	Minimum Wage
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many employers who were issued with notices of underpayment for the national minimum wage and were eligible for naming and shaming under the arrangements introduced since 1 October 2013 he has decided not to name and shame.
	tabling member constituency	East Ham
	tabling member printed	Stephen Timms
	uin	218354
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/12/2014 answer text <p>Under the revised Naming Scheme the Government will name all employers that have been issued with a Notice of Underpayment (NoU) unless employers meet one of the exceptional criteria or have arrears of £100 or less.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>To date 3 employers have made successful representations against being named and 8 employers have not been named as they had arrears of £100 or less.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Government has already named 55 employers. Between them they owed workers a total of over £139,000 in arrears and have been charged financial penalties totalling over £60,000. We will be naming other employers that do not comply with National Minimum Wage regulations soon.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Anyone not receiving the minimum wage that they are legally entitled to should call the Pay and Work Rights Helpline on 0800 917 2368.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 16/12/2014 16:36:27 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
	tabling member	163 label Biography information for Sir Stephen Timms