29 Dec 1999
Scotland Office Minister, Brian Wilson today (Thurs 30 Dec) announced that £25,000 worth of minimum wage underpayments have been recovered by Government enforcement officers working on behalf of workers in Scotland.
He also revealed that enforcement notices, which require employers to pay back money owed to workers, have been issued to seven employers in Scotland, with other cases pending.
Mr Wilson said:
"This Government is determined to ensure that we protect the rights of low paid workers by making sure that employers pay the national minimum wage, which we introduced.
"The figures announced today for underpayments and enforcement notices show that we take the enforcement of the National Minimum Wage Act very seriously and employers must make sure they do too.
"Some underpayments may have been as a result of an employer misunderstanding the rules, and I am pleased that in most cases employers willingly make up the difference in wages as soon as they become aware of their mistake. However let me make it clear that any employer who deliberately sets out to try and avoid paying the minimum wage will quickly face the prospect of a visit from the Inland Revenues enforcement officers.
"I urge any worker concerned that they are not being paid the minimum wage, or anyone wanting information on the minimum wage, to call the confidential minimum wage Helpline number 0845 6000 678. Every complaint is followed up."
NOTES TO NEWS EDITORS
1.The National Minimum Wage Act 1998 has civil and criminal provisions. The Inland Revenue (IR) act as National Minimum Wage Enforcement Officers who can issue enforcement notices which require employers to pay back money owed to workers, from 1 April 1999. The total back pay recovered for workers following visits and enforcement notices has now passed £500,000. Enforcement notices can be followed up with a penalty notice but, as yet, it has not been necessary to issue any penalty notices. A penalty notice would impose a financial penalty equal to twice the hourly amount of the main NMW rate (i.e. twice £3.60) per worker for every day that the enforcement notice is ignored. And the back pay will still have to be paid. If notices are not complied with, or if it is necessary to hurry the action because of tribunal time limits, enforcement officers will go to an employment tribunal on the worker’s behalf to recover the underpayment - which has happened four times, with more in the pipeline.
2. Complaints by country April - November 1999:- England 2,051; N. Ireland 99; Scotland 239; Wales 122; Not known *925; Total 3,436.
(*A large number of complaints appear to have no geographical region since anonymous complainants’ addresses are not taken; the complaints are dealt with by the IR compliance team nearest to the employer concerned.)