The TUC has called on Government to look at new ways of enforcing the minimum wage and finally bringing rogue employment agencies to task, in its submission to the BERR consultation on National Minimum Wage enforcement, fair arrears and enforcing temporary agency standards.
 
Currently, 95 per cent of employers caught underpaying the minimum wage simply pay back what they owe. This means there is no incentive for employers to pay the minimum wage – they can wait until they are caught breaking the law to pay up.
 
TUC Deputy General Secretary Frances O’Grady said: “Government needs to come down far harder on unscrupulous employers who are consistently flouting the law and underpaying their workers. The TUC wants Government to introduce an immediate penalty of £100 per worker for all employers caught failing to pay the minimum wage.
 
“The TUC also believes that the maximum fine of £5,000 for minimum wage offences should be greatly increased – and that all arrears should be calculated at the current rate of the minimum wage no matter when they accrued.”
 
The TUC welcomes Government proposals to strengthen the enforcement regime for Employment Agency Standards (EAS) inspectors. Measures include increasing the EAS powers of access and inspection to enable them to do their jobs more effectively and allowing for offences to be tried in the Crown Court rather than the Magistrates Courts.
 
However, in its consultation, the TUC advises Government that the problem is now so acute that: employment agencies need to be licensed, the Employment Agencies Standards Inspectorate needs better resourcing, and that agency workers need better rights as well as better enforcement of existing rights.

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