Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what records are kept on breaches of employment regulations in the offshore sector.

The Government is committed to the protection of workers’ rights for those in offshore employment.

The vast majority of employment rights in the UK are enforced by individuals through employment tribunals. The state enforces certain specific rights (national minimum wage, regulations on employment businesses, employment agencies, and certain labour providers involved in shellfish gathering and fresh produce supply). The relevant enforcement body in each area will take any action necessary to protect the workers within their remit, and to ensure that the records kept by employers, employment agencies, employment business, and labour providers meet the requirements of their respective legislation.

The right to the national minimum wage is enforced by HMRC. Since 2015, the Government has ordered employers to repay £100m to 1 million workers who had been underpaid. Businesses employing offshore workers may come under several Companies House sectors. The Low Pay Commission does not determine offshore workers as being at high risk of underpayment.