Asked by: Stewart Malcolm McDonald (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to ban employers from using unpaid work trials at the outset of employment.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Existing legislation already bans unpaid work trials that are not part of a legitimate recruitment process. They are not permitted if they are simply for the financial benefit of the employer or excessive in length. An unpaid trial lasting more than one day is highly likely to be illegal in all but very exceptional circumstances.
It is the responsibility of all employers to ensure they are paying their staff correctly and we will continue to take robust enforcement action against employers who fail to pay the minimum wage.
Asked by: Stewart Malcolm McDonald (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of extending the energy price cap to business energy contracts which are agreed for the purpose of supplying energy to communal areas of residential buildings.
Answered by Graham Stuart - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The energy price cap addresses the loyalty penalty that certain groups of domestic customers were found to be paying.
The Energy Bill Relief Scheme will provide a discount on wholesale gas and electricity prices for eligible non-domestic customers whose prices have been significantly inflated due to global energy prices. The Scheme will initially run for 6 months from 1st October 2022 until 31st March 2023, with a review to be published after 3 months. We expect businesses and other organisations to pass on the benefits to the end user in a reasonable way, which will ensure support for customers paying for energy through a contract with their landlord.
Asked by: Stewart Malcolm McDonald (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of banning unpaid work trials at the outset of employment.
Answered by Jackie Doyle-Price
Existing legislation already bans unpaid work trials that are not part of a legitimate recruitment process. They are not permitted if they are simply for the financial benefit of the employer or excessive in length. An unpaid trial lasting more than one day is highly likely to be illegal in all but very exceptional circumstances.
It is the responsibility of all employers to ensure they are paying their staff correctly and we will continue to take robust enforcement action against employers who fail to pay the minimum wage. Since 2015 we have ordered employers to repay £100 million of unpaid wages to 1 million workers.
Asked by: Stewart Malcolm McDonald (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent discussions he has had with (a) domestic property factors and managers and (b) energy suppliers regarding their utilisation of domestic-use only contracts in order to ensure that property (i) owners and (ii) tenants benefit from Ofgem's energy price cap.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Ofgem’s Standard Licence Conditions stipulate the criteria to determine whether a premises should be classified as a domestic or non-domestic premises. These Licence Conditions therefore determine whether the premises is eligible for a default or standard variable tariff and therefore whether the price cap applies to energy supplied to that premises.
Asked by: Stewart Malcolm McDonald (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to ensure those who (a) cannot use or (b) do not have access to technology are able to the access the stamp swap out scheme.
Answered by Paul Scully
The operation of Royal Mail’s products and services, including the ‘Stamp Swap Out’ scheme, is a matter for the company’s management and, as a private company, the Government is not involved in Royal Mail’s operational or commercial decisions.
It is Royal Mail’s responsibility to ensure its customers are aware of the introduction of barcoded stamps and the arrangements for exchanging old stamps. Royal Mail has announced further details about the ‘Stamp Swap Out’ scheme on its website and this includes details of how those who cannot use or do not have access to technology can participate. This information can be found at www.royalmail.com/sending/barcoded-stamps.
Asked by: Stewart Malcolm McDonald (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department are taking to raise public awareness of the stamp swap out scheme.
Answered by Paul Scully
The operation of Royal Mail’s products and services, including the ‘Stamp Swap Out’ scheme, is a matter for the company’s management and, as a private company, the Government is not involved in Royal Mail’s operational or commercial decisions.
It is Royal Mail’s responsibility to ensure its customers are aware of the introduction of barcoded stamps and the arrangements for exchanging old stamps. Royal Mail has announced further details about the ‘Stamp Swap Out’ scheme on its website and this includes details of how those who cannot use or do not have access to technology can participate. This information can be found at www.royalmail.com/sending/barcoded-stamps.
Asked by: Stewart Malcolm McDonald (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will hold discussions with business representatives on ensuring that they do not (a) advertise and (b) use unpaid work trials as part of a recruitment process.
Answered by Paul Scully
Unpaid work trials can play an important role in helping people into work opportunities, however they are not permissible if they are excessive or not part of a genuine recruitment process. Following consultation with representatives of workers and employers, the Government updated the Calculating the Minimum Wage guidance to clarify this:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/calculating-the-minimum-wage.
HM Revenue and Customs and BEIS speak regularly to businesses, reminding them of their responsibilities.
Asked by: Stewart Malcolm McDonald (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent discussions he has had with (a) trade unions and (b) employees on the potential merits of banning the use of unpaid work trials at the outset of employment.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Government regularly speaks to stakeholders including trade unions, on a wide range of employment issues. If someone has undertaken an unpaid work trial and thinks they should have been paid NMW, they can call the ACAS helpline or use the online helpline tool for free, confidential advice about their rights and entitlements. If they want to make a complaint through HMRC, they can do so in complete confidence.
Unpaid work trials that are exploitative are already against the law. When recruiting, an employer can ask an individual to carry out a short unpaid work trial to demonstrate that they have the skills required for the job. But if a work trial is excessively long, or not part of a genuine recruitment purpose, employers must pay participants at least the legal minimum wage.
Asked by: Stewart Malcolm McDonald (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department plans to compensate people who have been mis-sold Green Deals.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Under the Green Deal Framework Regulations, the Secretary of State has the power to reduce or cancel loans where there has been a breach of the relevant rules, and he is satisfied that the consumer has suffered, or is likely to suffer, a substantive loss. This is the extent of the Secretary of State’s power with regard to breaches. The Department plans to review all outstanding Green Deal complaints so that the Secretary of State can take decisions on them, in line with the Regulations, as soon as possible.
Asked by: Stewart Malcolm McDonald (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate he has made of the (a) wages (b) number of hours lost to unpaid work trials at the outset of employment to date in 2021.
Answered by Paul Scully
Existing legislation already bans unpaid work trials that are not part of a legitimate recruitment process. They are not permitted if they are simply for the financial benefit of the employer or are excessive in length. An unpaid trial lasting more than one day is highly likely to be illegal in all but very exceptional circumstances.
If someone has undertaken an illegal unpaid work trial, I would strongly encourage them to complain to HMRC, who enforce the minimum wage. HMRC consider every worker complaint that they receive.
It is never acceptable to underpay workers and employers who do so do not get off lightly. Where HMRC finds breaches, they order the employer to repay the workers and pay a penalty to government of up to 200%. Once HMRC has completed its investigation, it refers each case to BEIS for consideration for public naming. The Government named 191 employers on 5th August 2021 (https://www.gov.uk/government/news/employers-named-and-shamed-for-paying-less-than-minimum-wage). This includes employers in the Greater Glasgow area who had breaches involving unpaid work trials.