Business and Enterprise Secretary John Hutton recently announced a raft of new measures to crack down on rogue employers who exploit vulnerable workers.

The measures will include:

  • higher maximum fines for employers who do not pay the National Minimum Wage 
  • double the number of inspectors to crack down on abuses in employment agencies
  • tougher powers to get evidence 
  • unlimited penalties for employers who are caught.

 

He called for a new partnership between Government and the unions, including a new £3 million fund to help unions give support to vulnerable workers. He also pledged a renewed push to reach a fair and lasting EU-wide solution on agency worker rights.

This announcement follows a consultation on National Minimum Wage enforcement and on tougher powers for agency workers, which closed in August (see LELR 24)

The money for projects to help vulnerable workers will be allocated under the next stage of the Union Modernisation Fund.