§ Mr. AlexanderTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many employers have been found to be in contravention of national minimum wage legislation since its inception. [142700]
§ Mr. Alan JohnsonDuring the period April 1999 to November 2000, as a result of their investigations, National Minimum Wage Compliance Officers found some 2,500 employers to be in contravention of national minimum wage legislation.
§ Mr. WebbTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if subpostmasters are covered by minimum wage regulations; and if he will make a statement. [143095]
§ Mr. Alan JohnsonThe National Minimum Wage Act and Regulations apply to "workers" as defined in section 54 of the Act, plus agency workers and home workers as defined in sections 34 and 35. It is for 33W employment tribunals to determine whether certain individuals do or do not count as workers, depending on the facts in each individual case. The contractual arrangements of subpostmasters may vary from case to case. Where there is a dispute about an individual's status for minimum wage purposes, section 28 of the Act puts the burden of proof on the alleged employer to prove that the individual is not a worker. If this cannot be proved, then the individual will be taken to be a worker.
§ Mr. AlexanderTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many calls have been received by the Minimum Wage Hotline(a) nationally and (b) from Scotland to date. [142690]
§ Mr. Alan JohnsonDuring the period April 1999 to November 2000 over 170,000 calls in total were handled by the National Minimum Wage Helpline. In addition, a private sector helpline took 50,000 calls between January and March 1999. Therefore the total number of calls received up to the end of November 2000 is in excess of 220,000.
Information on the location of callers is not recorded by region or country. The vast majority of calls to the helpline are simply for information and advice and there is no need to take personal details.