National Minimum Wage - HMRC enforcement and prosecution policy

Written by Ian Congreave - Filed under: National Minimum Wage on April 20th, 2009

From 6 April 2009, new regulations came into force that change the approach that HMRC will take in future to non-compliance by employers with the National Minimum Wage (NMW) requirements. In particular, HMRC compliance officers, having carried out an investigation of an employer’s payroll and associated records and interviewed the employer, payroll staff and workers, may issue a notice of underpayment. This new type of notice requires the employer to pay arrears and also imposes an automatic penalty. HMRC has the statutory powers to initiate both civil and criminal proceedings against employers for a range of NMW offences.

The NMW legislation belongs to the Department of Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR), but compliance is contracted to HMRC. In a new explanatory document, BERR sets out in some detail the policies and procedures that will be followed by HMRC officers when complaints are raised by workers or third parties, or a compliance visit highlights a problem.

Further information:
National Minimum Wage: Policy on HM Revenue and Customs enforcement and prosecutions

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