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1168739

registered interest
date	20/12/2019
answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept id	201
answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
hansard heading	Unpaid Work
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if she will make it her Department's policy to ban the use of unpaid work trials at the outset of employment in UK businesses.
tabling member constituency	Glasgow South
tabling member printed	Stewart Malcolm McDonald
uin	322
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 07/01/2020 answer text <p>Unpaid work trials that are excessive and not part of a genuine recruitment process are prohibited by National Minimum Wage legislation. It is simply wrong to exploit workers by setting up excessive unpaid trials.  The law is clear that if someone is “working” for minimum wage purposes, they must be paid at least the National Minimum or National Living Wage.</p><p> </p><p>The Government is committed to ensuring that all employers pay their workers correctly. HMRC consider all worker complaints and will take enforcement action in any cases of abuse.</p><p> </p><p>BEIS published guidance in December 2018 clarifying that unpaid work trials are not permissible if they are excessive or not part of a genuine recruitment process. They can, however, play an important role in helping people into work opportunities, if used correctly.</p> answering member constituency Rochester and Strood answering member printed Kelly Tolhurst question first answered 07/01/2020 15:53:08 answering member 4487 label Biography information for Kelly Tolhurst
tabling member	4461 label Biography information for Stewart Malcolm McDonald

1166705

registered interest
date	28/10/2019
answering body	Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	Treasury
hansard heading	Unpaid Work
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many complaints HMRC has received on employers advertising unpaid work trials in the last 12 months.
tabling member constituency	Glasgow South
tabling member printed	Stewart Malcolm McDonald
uin	6442
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 31/10/2019 answer text <p>The Government is determined that everyone who is entitled to the National Minimum Wage (NMW) receives it.</p><p>All businesses, irrespective of size or business sector, are responsible for paying the correct minimum wage to their staff.</p><p>HMRC do not record numbers of complaints relating specifically to unpaid work trials.</p><p>HMRC take seriously and review all complaints from workers; and if anyone thinks they are not receiving at least the minimum wage, they can contact Acas, in confidence, on 0300 123 1100 or submit a query online using the following link: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pay-and-work-rights-complaints" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pay-and-work-rights-complaints</a>.</p> answering member constituency Hereford and South Herefordshire answering member printed Jesse Norman question first answered 31/10/2019 13:42:59 answering member 3991 label Biography information for Jesse Norman
tabling member	4461 label Biography information for Stewart Malcolm McDonald

1145813

registered interest
date	25/09/2019
answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept id	201
answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
hansard heading	Unpaid Work
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if she will make it her Department's policy to centrally record the number of workers underpaid through work trials.
tabling member constituency	Glasgow South
tabling member printed	Stewart Malcolm McDonald
uin	290796
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/10/2019 answer text <p>The Government is committed to ensuring that all employers pay their workers correctly. We have increased the annual budget for National Minimum Wage (NMW) compliance and enforcement to £27.4m; more than doubling the level of resources since 2015/16.</p><p>HMRC NMW enforcement data records the reasons for employers’ failure to pay the correct minimum wage; this includes the broader category of <em>unpaid working time</em>. No estimate has been made of the number of people who have undertaken unpaid work trials in 2018-19.</p><p>“Calculating the Minimum Wage” guidance is kept under review and updates are published as required to ensure that employers are aware of their obligations and are able to comply with minimum wage legislation. Guidance relating to work trials was most recently updated in December.</p> answering member constituency Rochester and Strood answering member printed Kelly Tolhurst grouped question UIN 290799 290811 question first answered 04/10/2019 11:33:47 answering member 4487 label Biography information for Kelly Tolhurst
tabling member	4461 label Biography information for Stewart Malcolm McDonald

1145816

registered interest
date	25/09/2019
answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept id	201
answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
hansard heading	Unpaid Work
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate she has made of the number of people who have undertaken unpaid work trials in 2018-19.
tabling member constituency	Glasgow South
tabling member printed	Stewart Malcolm McDonald
uin	290799
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/10/2019 answer text <p>The Government is committed to ensuring that all employers pay their workers correctly. We have increased the annual budget for National Minimum Wage (NMW) compliance and enforcement to £27.4m; more than doubling the level of resources since 2015/16.</p><p>HMRC NMW enforcement data records the reasons for employers’ failure to pay the correct minimum wage; this includes the broader category of <em>unpaid working time</em>. No estimate has been made of the number of people who have undertaken unpaid work trials in 2018-19.</p><p>“Calculating the Minimum Wage” guidance is kept under review and updates are published as required to ensure that employers are aware of their obligations and are able to comply with minimum wage legislation. Guidance relating to work trials was most recently updated in December.</p> answering member constituency Rochester and Strood answering member printed Kelly Tolhurst grouped question UIN 290796 290811 question first answered 04/10/2019 11:33:47 answering member 4487 label Biography information for Kelly Tolhurst
tabling member	4461 label Biography information for Stewart Malcolm McDonald

1145830

registered interest
date	25/09/2019
answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept id	201
answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
hansard heading	Unpaid Work
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the Government guidance, Calculating the Minimum Wage, if she will make it her Department's policy to review and update the guidance on unpaid work trials.
tabling member constituency	Glasgow South
tabling member printed	Stewart Malcolm McDonald
uin	290811
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/10/2019 answer text <p>The Government is committed to ensuring that all employers pay their workers correctly. We have increased the annual budget for National Minimum Wage (NMW) compliance and enforcement to £27.4m; more than doubling the level of resources since 2015/16.</p><p>HMRC NMW enforcement data records the reasons for employers’ failure to pay the correct minimum wage; this includes the broader category of <em>unpaid working time</em>. No estimate has been made of the number of people who have undertaken unpaid work trials in 2018-19.</p><p>“Calculating the Minimum Wage” guidance is kept under review and updates are published as required to ensure that employers are aware of their obligations and are able to comply with minimum wage legislation. Guidance relating to work trials was most recently updated in December.</p> answering member constituency Rochester and Strood answering member printed Kelly Tolhurst grouped question UIN 290796 290799 question first answered 04/10/2019 11:33:47 answering member 4487 label Biography information for Kelly Tolhurst
tabling member	4461 label Biography information for Stewart Malcolm McDonald

1127650

registered interest
date	20/05/2019
answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept id	201
answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
hansard heading	Unpaid Work
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent steps he has taken to ensure that interns are paid at least (a) the national minimum wage and (b) the national living wage.
tabling member constituency	Newcastle-under-Lyme
tabling member printed	Paul Farrelly
uin	256245
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/05/2019 answer text <p>The law is clear that any individual performing work is entitled to receive the National Minimum and National Living Wage (NMW). The Government is committed to enforcing this right. In 2018/19 HM Revenue &amp; Customs (HMRC) identified a record £24.4 million in arrears for over 220,000 workers and issued over £17 million in penalties to non-compliant employers. The budget to enforce the NMW stands at its highest ever.</p><p> </p><p>HMRC have contacted over 2,000 employers found to be advertising unpaid internships online to ensure they are compliant with the law. They have also issued over 15,000 letters to employers in industries where internships are common to remind them of their responsibilities.</p><p> </p><p>Earlier this month my hon Friend the Minister of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport) (Digital Policy) (Margot James) and I co-hosted a roundtable on internships with employers and organisations in the creative industries. Discussion focused on how Government can work better with employers to raise the profile of existing rules and ensure that interns are paid in accordance with NMW law. The event provided important insight which will be used to improve compliance with the law across all sectors.</p><p> </p><p>Anyone who feels they are being underpaid the NMW should contact Acas for free impartial advice or make a complaint directly to HMRC through their online form. HMRC follow up on every worker complaint received, even those which are anonymous.</p> answering member constituency Rochester and Strood answering member printed Kelly Tolhurst question first answered 23/05/2019 13:54:49 answering member 4487 label Biography information for Kelly Tolhurst
tabling member	1436 label Biography information for Paul Farrelly

1090922

registered interest
date	18/03/2019
answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept id	201
answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
hansard heading	Unpaid Work
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will make it his Department's policy to include an assessment of the effect of unpaid work trials on levels of employment as part of the review of the international evidence on the impacts of minimum wages published on 13 March.
tabling member constituency	Glasgow South
tabling member printed	Stewart Malcolm McDonald
uin	233568
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/03/2019 answer text <p>The National Living Wage (NLW) has helped to deliver the fastest wage growth for the lowest paid in 20 years, and in April 2019, alongside the National Minimum Wage (NMW) rates, will increase above inflation and average earnings. Collectively, over 2.1 million workers will benefit from the minimum wage rates. In Glasgow South, there are an estimated 1,600 workers currently benefiting from the minimum wages.</p><p>At Spring Statement 2019, the Government announced an important step in its aspiration to end low pay, by appointing Professor Arindrajit Dube to undertake a review of the latest international evidence on minimum wages. The review will be considering the implications of this international evidence for UK minimum wage policy.</p><p>The Government is clear that National Minimum Wage legislation already protects workers by proscribing unpaid work trials that are excessive and not part of a genuine recruitment process. The Government published new guidance in December 2018 that clarifies the rights of workers and the responsibilities of employers.</p> answering member constituency Rochester and Strood answering member printed Kelly Tolhurst grouped question UIN 233606 question first answered 21/03/2019 17:27:28 answering member 4487 label Biography information for Kelly Tolhurst
tabling member	4461 label Biography information for Stewart Malcolm McDonald

1090984

registered interest
date	18/03/2019
answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept id	201
answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
hansard heading	Unpaid Work
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the review of the international evidence on the impacts of minimum wages, published on 13 March 2019, if he will make it his Department's policy to ban unpaid work trials at the outset of employment.
tabling member constituency	Glasgow South
tabling member printed	Stewart Malcolm McDonald
uin	233606
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/03/2019 answer text <p>The National Living Wage (NLW) has helped to deliver the fastest wage growth for the lowest paid in 20 years, and in April 2019, alongside the National Minimum Wage (NMW) rates, will increase above inflation and average earnings. Collectively, over 2.1 million workers will benefit from the minimum wage rates. In Glasgow South, there are an estimated 1,600 workers currently benefiting from the minimum wages.</p><p>At Spring Statement 2019, the Government announced an important step in its aspiration to end low pay, by appointing Professor Arindrajit Dube to undertake a review of the latest international evidence on minimum wages. The review will be considering the implications of this international evidence for UK minimum wage policy.</p><p>The Government is clear that National Minimum Wage legislation already protects workers by proscribing unpaid work trials that are excessive and not part of a genuine recruitment process. The Government published new guidance in December 2018 that clarifies the rights of workers and the responsibilities of employers.</p> answering member constituency Rochester and Strood answering member printed Kelly Tolhurst grouped question UIN 233568 question first answered 21/03/2019 17:27:27 answering member 4487 label Biography information for Kelly Tolhurst
tabling member	4461 label Biography information for Stewart Malcolm McDonald

984278

registered interest
date	09/10/2018
answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept id	201
answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
hansard heading	Unpaid Work
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answers by Lord Henley on 17 May (HL7805, HL7806, HL7807, and HL7809), what progress they have made in fulfilling their commitments, in particular the commitments to (1) hold a roundtable discussion with employers and leaders from sectors that commonly use interns, (2) update guidance for employers and workers on the rules for paying interns, and (3) publish further details on enforcement of the National Minimum Wage.
tabling member printed	Lord Holmes of Richmond
uin	HL10486
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/10/2018 answer text <p>The Government is clear that all interns who are conducting work should be paid at least the National Minimum Wage. We will publish updated guidance in due course to ensure employers are clear on their responsibilities. This guidance clarifies the checks employers need to make to ensure they are paying interns properly.</p><p>The Government has been focusing enforcement efforts towards employers of interns. HM Revenue and Customs have contacted over 2,000 employers found to be advertising on the internet for unpaid internships. Each employer is written a letter to make the law clear, and to set out the risk of further enforcement action. HM Revenue and Customs will shortly expand this approach. Government Ministers are planning a roundtable meeting with employers later this year.</p><p>The Government recently published National Living Wage and National Minimum Wage: government evidence on compliance and enforcement, 2017 to 2018. This is publicly available in the attached.</p> answering member printed Lord Henley question first answered 23/10/2018 11:11:01 answering member 2616 label Biography information for Lord Henley attachment 1 file name nmw-nlw-enforcement-compliance-report-2018.pdf title NATIONAL LIVING WAGE AND NATIONAL MINIMUM WAGE
tabling member	4294 label Biography information for Lord Holmes of Richmond

973359

registered interest
date	13/09/2018
answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept id	201
answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
hansard heading	Unpaid Work
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to his Answer of 18 July 2018 to Question 163133 on Work Experience: Pay, what the timetable is for the public guidance to be updated.
tabling member constituency	Ellesmere Port and Neston
tabling member printed	Justin Madders
uin	174739
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/10/2018 answer text <p>The updated internship guidance will clarify the checks employers need to take to ensure compliance with the law. The update will be published shortly alongside other regular updates to the guidance entitled “Calculating the National Minimum Wage”.</p><p>HMRC are continuing to write to employers advertising unpaid internships to help them understand National Minimum Wage law. Similarly, HMRC also engage with at-risk groups, with over 1.6 million text messages sent to workers, 1.3 million texts sent to working tax credit recipients, and 370,000 texts sent to apprentices.</p><p>HMRC responds to 100% of worker complaints and also conducts proactive, targeted enforcement. In the 2017/18 financial year, HMRC identified £15.6 million in arrears for over 200,00 workers.</p> answering member constituency Rochester and Strood answering member printed Kelly Tolhurst question first answered 10/10/2018 16:08:12 answering member 4487 label Biography information for Kelly Tolhurst
tabling member	4418 label Biography information for Justin Madders