Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to his Department's 31 December 2020 press release entitled Rogue employers named and shamed for failing to pay minimum wage, what proportion of those 95,000 workers received backpay as a result of unpaid work trials.

The Government is committed to ensuring that all employers pay their workers correctly. HM Revenue and Customs considers all worker complaints and will take enforcement action in any cases of abuse.

The naming scheme is an important tool in raising awareness of minimum wage enforcement and deterring any employers who might otherwise be tempted to break minimum wage law.

There were a variety of reasons for underpayment in the most recent Naming round. Some of most common reasons include deductions or payments that took pay below the minimum wage, unpaid working time or a failure to pay the correct rate to apprentices.