Government announces employers to be fined who pay below minimum wage from next April

Employers who pay below the minimum wage will face automatic fines of 5,000 from next April, the Government announced last week. This month the NMW rose from 5.52 an hour to 5.73 for adult workers, from 4.60 to 4.77 for 18- to 22-year-olds, and from 3.40 to 3.53 for 16- and 17-year-olds. Dave Prentis, Unison general secretary, said, 'The rise to 5.73 is a welcome cushion. However, with the price of essentials such as food, gas and electricity going up massively, it won't lift enough working people out of the poverty trap. A more realistic figure would be 6.75.'