§ Mr. Evansasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will provide information on the numbers 100W of firms discovered by the Wages Inspectorate, in each year since 1977, to be failing to maintain adequate records of wages; how many of these had been prosecuted for such failure; and what proportion had previously been discovered to have failed to keep adequate records as a result of earlier inspections.
§ Mr. GummerThe information requested is as follows:
Establishments failing to maintain adequate records of wages with Numbers prosecuted Establishments Prosecuted 1977 3,372 4 1978 3,683 9 1979 4,058 5 1980 3,928 4 1981 2,751 2 1982 2,318 3 1983 2,600 — Where records were found to be inadequate it was normally possible for inspectors to check from the records available and by interviewing workers whether or not any were being underpaid. All the employers concerned were given guidance on the pay details they are required to record. Statistics are not kept of the numbers of such employers who were found to have failed to maintain adequate wage records in the course of a previous inspection.
§ Mr. Evansasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will provide information on the proportion of firms which were found by the Wages Inspectorate to be underpaying their employees in 1983 and which had also been previously discovered underpaying as a result of checks in earlier years.
§ Mr. GummerThe information requested is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
§ Mr. Evansasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will publish information showing, for each year since 1974 (a) the total numbers of pay checks carried out in each year by the Wages Inspectorate, (b) how many of these were the result of complaints from employers and (c) the percentage rate of underpayment as between checks that were the result of employee complaints and those that were carried out on a routine basis; and whether he will provide a regional breakdown of these statistics for each year since 1979.
§ Mr. GummerThe information requested is being obtained and will be published in theOfficial Report as soon as it is available.
§ Mr. Evansasked the Secretary of State for Employment whether he will publish a breakdown of the various methods of inspection carried out by the Wages Inspectorate in 1983 in the manner of the answer given on 28 March 1983, Official Report, columns 57–58; whether he will provide information showing the proportion of establishments found to be underpaying within each inspection category; and what steps are taken to ensure that the information provided by employers responding to postal inquiries is accurate.
§ Mr. GummerSince publication, some of the figures for earlier years have been revised. The following table gives the corrected figures for these years in addition to the figures requested for 1983.
101W
1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 Inspections by visit 34,807 34,657 24,399 23,272 26,332 Percentage 66.6 69.3 64.4 58.9 61.9 Inspections by postal inquiry only 10,187 7,826 6,317 4,906 4,564 Percentage 19.3 15.7 16.7 12.4 10.7 Other inspections not involving a visit 7,827 7,511 7,177 11,336 11,662 Percentage 14.8 15.0 18.9 28.7 27.4 The figures for postal inquiries and other inspections not involving a visit relate only to those where no underpayment was revealed. All other employers were visited, including those who did not reply to a postal inquiry. In 1983, the proportion of establishments visited at which one or more workers were found to be underpaid was 37.4 per cent. A sample of 1 in 20 of the employers whose reply to a postal inquiry indicated that they were
Wages Council Establishments employing homeworkers inspected Establishments underpaying (any worker) Number of homeworkers employed Number of homeworkers underpaid Clothing Manufacture 136 26 1,108 41 Boot and Shoe Repair 2 — 5 — Button Manufacture 2 1 53 25 Hat, Cap and Millinery 13 4 189 18 Lace Finishing 1 — 21 — Ostrich and Fancy Feather 1 — 85 — Retail Bespoke Tailoring 12 5 19 3 Rope, Net and Twine 1 1 8 7 Toy Manufacture 7 5 1,177 — Retail Non-Food 2 — 6 — Total 177 42 2,671 94 Employers are required to provide the inspectorate with details of names, addresses, work completed and amounts
102Wcomplying with minimum rates are selected for visit by an inspector. Of those checked in this way in 1983, 96 per cent. provided correct information.