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<p>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.</p><br /><p>The Government has increased annual
funding of National Minimum Wage enforcement by over 60% since 2010, meaning a £13.2m
budget in 2015/16.</p><br /><p>This has enabled a significant expansion of resources
dedicated to enforcing the minimum wage; there are currently 237 staff (224.05 full-time
equivalent) in HM Revenue and Customs’ National Minimum Wage teams, up from 171 at
the start of 2014/15.</p><br /><p>Previous years’ detail is provided in the table
below:</p><p><br></p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Year</p></td><td><p>Funding allocated
by BIS (or predecessor departments) (£m)</p></td><td><p>Full-time equivalent staff</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2006/07</p></td><td><p>5.8</p></td><td><p>Not
available</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2007/08</p></td><td><p>6.8</p></td><td><p>Not available</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2008/09</p></td><td><p>7.6</p></td><td><p>139.16</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2009/10</p></td><td><p>8.3</p></td><td><p>140.18</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2010/11</p></td><td><p>8.1</p></td><td><p>142.18</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2011/12</p></td><td><p>8.3</p></td><td><p>138.88</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2012/13</p></td><td><p>8.3</p></td><td><p>142.37</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2013/14</p></td><td><p>8.3</p></td><td><p>157.85</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2014/15</p></td><td><p>9.2*</p></td><td><p>183.47</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p><br></p><p>*Increased
in-year</p><br />
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