§ Mr. CoxTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many prosecutions there have been to date for the non-payment by a company to their workforce of the national minimum wage. [121123]
§ Mr. Alan Johnson[holding answer 5 May 2000]: There have been no criminal prosecutions under section 31 of the National Minimum Wage Act 1999 since it came into force 13 months ago.
This is because the Act also contains a number of provisions empowering enforcement officers to take civil action against non-paying employers and the enforcement body will always use these in the first instance. However, there will be criminal prosecutions where the enforcement body considers them necessary.