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National Minimum Wage (Enforcement Notices)
Bill [HL]
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EXPLANATORY NOTES
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Explanatory notes to the Bill, prepared
by the Department of Trade and Industry, are
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published separately as Bill 51—EN.
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EUROPEAN CONVENTION ON HUMAN RIGHTS
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Ms Secretary Hewitt has made the following
statement under section 19(1)(a) of the
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Human Rights Act 1998:
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In my view the provisions of the National
Minimum Wage (Enforcement Notices) Bill
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[HL] are compatible with the Convention rights.
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A
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Bill
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To
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Make provision
enabling an enforcement notice under section 19 of the
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National Minimum Wage Act 1998 to impose
a requirement under subsection
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(2) of that section in relation to a
person, whether or not a requirement under
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subsection (1) of that section is, or
may be, imposed in relation to that or any
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other person; and to limit the pay reference
periods in respect of which a
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requirement under subsection (2) of
that section may be imposed.
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Be
it enacted by the Queen’s most Excellent Majesty, by and
with the advice and
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consent of the Lords Spiritual and
Temporal, and Commons, in this present
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Parliament assembled, and by the authority
of the same, as follows:—
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1 Enforcement
notices
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In section 19 of the National Minimum Wage
Act 1998 (c. 39) (power of officer
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to issue enforcement notice) after subsection
(2) (previous underpayments to
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workers who qualify for the national minimum
wage) insert—
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“(2A) If
an officer acting for the purposes of this Act is of the opinion that
a
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worker
who has at any time qualified for the national minimum wage
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has
not been remunerated for any pay reference period (whether
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ending
before or after the coming into force of this subsection) by his
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employer
at a rate at least equal to the national minimum wage, the
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officer
may serve on the employer an enforcement notice which
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imposes
a requirement under subsection (2) above in relation to the
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worker,
whether or not a requirement under subsection (1) above is, or
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may
be, imposed in relation to that worker (or any other worker to
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whom
the notice relates).
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(2B) An
enforcement notice may not impose a requirement under
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subsection
(2) above in respect of any pay reference period ending
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more
than 6 years before the date on which the notice is served.”
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2 Short
title, commencement and extent
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(1) This
Act may be cited as the National Minimum Wage (Enforcement Notices)
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Act 2003.
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(2) This
Act comes into force at the end of the period of two months beginning
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with the day on which it is passed.
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(3) The
amendment made by this Act has the same extent as the enactment
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amended.
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(4) But,
notwithstanding section 20(2) of the Interpretation Act 1978 (c. 30)
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(construction of references to other
enactments), the reference in section 1
to
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section 19 of the National Minimum
Wage Act 1998 (c. 39) shall be taken not to
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include a reference to that section
as applied by section 3A of the Agricultural
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Wages (Scotland) Act 1949 (c. 30).
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(5) This
Act extends to Northern Ireland.
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(6) Nothing
in this Act shall impose any charge on the people or on public
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funds,
or vary the amount or incidence of or otherwise alter any such charge
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in
any manner, or affect the assessment, levying, administration or
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application
of any money raised by any such charge.
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