§ Mr. McAllionTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many employers have been prosecuted in the last 12 months for breach of wages council obligations; and what was the overall number of work places in which infringements were discovered.
§ Mr. NichollsIn the 12 months ending 31 January 1988 the Wages Inspectorate prosecuted nine employers for offences under wages council legislation.
Statistics on infringements are compiled by reference to the numbers of each type found. In 1987, 4,443 establishments were found to be underpaying one or more workers, 1,249 establishments had inadequate wage records, 6,743 had inadequate records of time worked and 6,275 were not displaying a current wages council notice. These figures are not mutually exclusive. The overall number of establishments found to be infringing the legislation could be provided only at disproportionate cost.