Government Gets Tough on Minimum Wage

The Trade and Industry Secretary Alistair Darling has announced that Employers who refuse to pay the minimum wage could face a £200 fine for every worker they had underpaid, compared with the flat-rate £5,000 fine that can be imposed at present for failing to pay the minimum £5.35 an hour.

Darling said: "Workers have the right to a decent minimum wage and we are determined they get it. To those employers avoiding the minimum wage the message is don't pay it and you'll pay the fine. In the last year alone the government's enforcement teams across the UK helped over 25,000 workers get more than £3m back in unpaid wages.

"The vast majority of good employers need to know they are operating on a level playing field. These measures will help deliver that."

Between 2005 and 2006, the government helped 25,314 workers recover more than £3.2m in unpaid wages.

The CBI welcomed the move. Susan Anderson, director of HR policy, said: "Firms who pay staff less than the minimum wage are not just acting unlawfully, they are undermining the vast majority of law-abiding employers.

"It is therefore right that those firms who have been given ample opportunity to pay their arrears and fail to do so should be penalised."