Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 8 January 2015 to Question 218249, how many complaints about non-payment of the minimum wage to HM Revenue and Customs have been made in each of the last six years.

The Government takes the enforcement of National Minimum Wage very seriously. Any worker who believes that they are being paid below the minimum wage should make a complaint to the Pay & Work Rights Helpline (PWRH) on 0800 917 2368.

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) review every complaint referred to them by the PWRH. We are unable to provide 2014/15 figures to date as we do not typically disclose results mid-way through a year; this is because the results have not been internally validated. Reference sources for complaints referred by the PWRH over the last five years are detailed below in the government evidence to the Low Pay Commission (LPC):

2013/14; Annex C; P75

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/393983/bis-15-25-national-minimum-wage-final-government-evidence-for-the-low-pay-commissions-2015-report.pdf

2012/13; Table D2; P66

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/273665/bis-14-533-national-minimum-wage-government-evidence-for-the-low-pay-commission-2014.pdf

2011/12; 2006 complaints. The LPC report this year made reference to all calls received by the PWRH, rather than NMW complaints.

2010/11 & 2009/10; Table 6.3; P85

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/32164/11-1264-national-minimum-wage-evidence-2011.pdf

Please note, HMRC do not publish management information based on complaints received, but by investigations completed. Some complaints may not lead to the commencement of an investigation which could be due to incomplete information being provided, or the worker subsequently withdrawing their complaint. Similarly, multiple complaints about the same employer are only recorded under one investigation. Additionally, HMRC collate and analyse data from various sources in order to identify those employers who are potentially more likely to be underpaying National Minimum Wage, so that they can undertake targeted enforcement against those employers.