Source · Select Committees · Business and Trade Committee
Recommendation 24
24
Accepted
Paragraph: 147
Labour market rule enforcement deemed inadequate due to under-resourcing and lack of priority
Conclusion
We conclude that enforcement of labour market rules is wholly inadequate—not because enforcers or regulators are not performing, but because they are under- resourced and not given the priority they deserve for legislative reform.
Government response summary AI-generated
The government acknowledges the importance of effective dispute resolution and details specific measures taken to address Employment Tribunal backlogs and capacity, including recruiting new judges and caseworkers, deploying virtual platforms, and making operational changes.
Summary of the government's response below — read the verbatim text to verify.
Paragraph Reference:
147
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government · verbatim extract
Accepted
The Government does not agree with the Committee’s characterisation of enforcement. In 2021/22, for example, HMRC concluded over 2,800 minimum wage investigations and returned more than £16.3m in arrears to over 120,000 workers, further issuing 696 fines totalling £13.2m to business who had failed to pay the minimum wage. The Government continues to increase investment in state enforcement bodies, more than doubling the budget for National Minimum Wage compliance and enforcement to £27.8m for 2022/23, up from £13.2m in 2015/16. Elsewhere, the Government has taken steps, including recruitment of judges, to return Employment Tribunals to pre-Covid levels of hearings. MoJ and DBT are continuing to work together to improve the efficiency of the employment dispute system. These investments are on top of c.£50m the Government provided last year for the Advice, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas). Acas is an impartial independent organisation whose remit is to promote good employment relations, advise employers and employees on workplace matters, and resolve individual and collective workplace disputes. The UK has a robust system for enforcing employment rights and the number of enforcement officers is just one aspect. The Government recognises the importance that effective and swift resolution of employment disputes plays in protecting the rights of workers.
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