Vince Cable reveals minimum wage fine has been raised to £20,000

The business secretary will crack down on rogue employees and make them pay a maximum of £20,000 for every worker denied minimum wage.

16:35 15 January 2014

Business secretary Vince Cable has taken steps to crack down on rogue employees to ensure that every employee will be paid at least the minimum wage.

The new regulation will see that employers that are not following the law will be fined a maximum of £20,000. Under the previous system, employers were fined one maximum £5,000 plus a financial penalty of 50per cent of the missing wages.

Cable will say: "Anyone entitled to the national minimum wage should receive it. Paying anything less than this is unacceptable, illegal and will be punished by law.

“So we are bringing in tougher financial penalties to crack down on those who do not play by the rules. The message is clear – if you break the law, you will face action.

"As well as higher penalties, we have made it easier to name and shame employers who fail to pay their workers what they are due.

“We are working with HM Revenue and Customs to investigate non-compliance and facilitate prosecutions in the most serious of cases. We will also make sure that every complaint made to the free and confidential pay and work rights helpline is looked at.”