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100291

	registered interest
	date	22/10/2014
	answering body	HM Treasury
	answering dept id	14
	answering dept short name	Treasury
	answering dept sort name	Treasury
	hansard heading	Minimum Wage
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 16 October 2014 to Question 209683 to the hon. Member for Stourbridge, what assessment he has made of the factors that resulted in there being no prosecutions for not paying the national minimum wage in each of the last two years.
	tabling member constituency	Stockton North
	tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
	uin	211604
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/11/2014 answer text <p>The Government takes the enforcement of the National Minimum Wage (NMW) very seriously. HMRC review every complaint that is referred to them by the Pay and Work Rights Helpline. In addition, HMRC undertake targeted enforcement on employers across the United Kingdom who are more likely to be not paying NMW.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The Government has increased the financial penalty percentage from 50% to 100% of the unpaid wages owed to workers, and the maximum penalty from £5,000 to £20,000. These new limits are now in force where arrears are identified in pay reference periods on or after 7 March 2014. The Government will also bring in primary legislation as soon as possible so that the maximum £20,000 penalty can apply to each underpaid worker.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The majority of employers identified as paying below the NMW pay arrears on receipt of a formal Notice of Underpayment. Where they do not do so, HMRC pursues recovery through the civil courts. HMRC‘s approach to tackling underpayment of NMW through the civil courts is the best way to ensure that money is paid back to the person underpaid and provides the most effective resolution for tax-payers. Criminal investigations may not result in arrears being paid to workers and are therefore reserved for the most serious cases.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency South West Hertfordshire answering member printed Mr David Gauke question first answered 03/11/2014 15:32:50 answering member 1529 label Biography information for Mr David Gauke
	tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham

91669

	registered interest
	date	12/09/2014
	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, which sectors of the economy he estimates to have the lowest compliance with national minimum wage legislation.
	tabling member constituency	Stockton North
	tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
	uin	209186
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/10/2014 answer text <p>The main estimate of non-compliance used is from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE)[1]. The table below shows the proportion of jobs held by those aged 22 and over, paid below the full adult national minimum wage (NMW) (at the time of the ASHE survey) by sector. It is reproduced from the latest Low Pay Commission report[2].</p><p>This is a proxy measure for non-compliance as these figures include people who for legitimate reasons are paid less than the adult NMW for example because they are on the apprentice NMW rate or are living in accommodation provided by their employer. The ASHE survey is based on a sample of employee jobs drawn from HMRC’s Pay-As-You-Earn income tax records and consequently it does not include all workers who earn below the Lower Earnings Limit. These two factors tend to offset each other but we do not know definitively how large the combined effect is. However, we believe that it is small.</p><p> </p><p>Proportion of jobs held by those aged 22 and over, paid below the national minimum wage by sector, UK, 2012-13</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Sectors</p></td><td><p>Paid below 2013 April NMW rate (£6.19)</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Hairdressing</p></td><td><p>3.5</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Childcare</p></td><td><p>2.8</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Hospitality</p></td><td><p>2.5</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Cleaning</p></td><td><p>2.4</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Leisure, travel &amp; sport</p></td><td><p>1.4</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Retail</p></td><td><p>1.3</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Transport</p></td><td><p>1.3</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Agriculture</p></td><td><p>1.2</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Storage</p></td><td><p>0.9</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Social care</p></td><td><p>0.8</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Textiles &amp; clothing</p></td><td><p>0.8</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Office work</p></td><td><p>0.8</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Employment agencies</p></td><td><p>0.7</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Food processing</p></td><td><p>0.6</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Non-food Processing</p></td><td><p>0.4</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>Whole economy</strong></p></td><td><p>0.8</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>[1] ASHE is a survey of employees completed by employers which we can use to look at workers earning at or below the NMW rate.</p><p>[2]<a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/288841/The_National_Minimum_Wage_LPC_Report_2014.pdf" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/288841/The_National_Minimum_Wage_LPC_Report_2014.pdf</a></p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 13/10/2014 12:16:52 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
	tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham

91670

	registered interest
	date	12/09/2014
	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, what proportion of those estimated not to be in receipt of the national minimum wage call the the Pay and Rights Helpline.
	tabling member constituency	Stockton North
	tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
	uin	209187
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/10/2014 answer text <p>Estimates from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings for April 2013 show that there were around 279,000 jobs paid below the national minimum wage (NMW) held by people aged 16 and over (which constitutes 1.1% of all employee jobs in the UK labour market).</p><p> </p><p>The number of complaints about the NMW to the Pay and Work Rights Helpline (PWRH) in 2013/14 was 3747 (including some calls up to May 2014). We do not know what number of complaints to the PWRH come from workers who are not paid the NMW. There are a number of other callers who also ring the helpline to obtain advice and are able to have their issue resolved at this stage without needing to make a formal complaint.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>During 2013/14, HMRC conducted 1,455 investigations (39% of the number of calls to the PWRH). From the investigations, 47 per cent of the cases were found to be non-compliant, which covers 22,610 workers.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 13/10/2014 14:35:41 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
	tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham

91679

	registered interest
	date	12/09/2014
	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, what representations he has received on national minimum wage and travel time; and if he will take steps to publicise guidance on travel time and the national minimum wage.
	tabling member constituency	Stockton North
	tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
	uin	209188
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/10/2014 answer text <p>The Government is clear that travel time and rest breaks between assignments should be paid at least the appropriate National Minimum Wage rate.</p><p> </p><p>Despite this the Government has received information from a number of sources that there are concerns about the relationship between the National Minimum Wage (NMW) and travel time.</p><p> </p><p>In response to these concerns the Government has taken a number of steps to publicise and inform employers and workers of the NMW rules around travel time:-</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><ul><li>the Department of Health have developed statutory guidance, in conjunction with a range of stakeholders, which refers to employment law and to HMRC guidance on payment of travel time, to help Local Authorities assure themselves that the care companies they contract with comply with NMW regulations.</li><li>The Government has collaborated with care sector representative bodies to improve understanding of compliance risks and design controls within payroll systems that prevent workers being underpaid the minimum wage, in order to improve compliance.</li><li>Guidance on Gov.uk has been updated to make it as clear as possible that travel time and rest breaks between assignments must be paid at least the NMW.</li></ul><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>In addition, the Government will continue to work with the sector to ensure that understanding improves. This will include the Department of Health’s statutory guidance as part of the overall guidance on market shaping and commissioning, the final version of which will be published in Autumn 2014.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency East Dunbartonshire answering member printed Jo Swinson question first answered 13/10/2014 13:43:17 answering member 1513 label Biography information for Jo Swinson
	tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham