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

To ask Her Majesty's Government what measures they are taking to enforce minimum wage standards across the UK.

The Government takes robust enforcement action against employers who do not pay their staff in accordance with the National Minimum Wage (NMW) regulations. The budget for enforcing the National Minimum and Living Wage has increased from £13.2 million in 2015/16 to £25.3 million for 2017/18, leading to an increase in the number of compliance officers available to investigate abuses.

The penalty regime has been significantly strengthened in recent years; in 2016 the financial penalty was increased to 200% of arrears. We have also changed the penalty cap to apply on a ‘per worker’ rather than ‘per employer’ basis; this means that employers who break the law face a maximum penalty up to £20,000 maximum per worker.

To further deter employers from underpaying their staff, BEIS runs an NMW public naming scheme, publishing a quarterly list of employers who have failed to pay their staff the NMW.