Plaid Cymru AM Leanne Wood is urging the UK Coalition Government to order a crackdown against employers flouting minimum wage legislation.
The South Wales Central AM says it is time to call an end to soft touch regulation after it was revealed that HM Revenue & Customs did not prosecute a single business for breaking the law during 2009-10.
Leanne Wood’s appeal comes as the minimum wage rises to £5.93 for workers over 21 from Friday, October 1.
In the last financial year, more than 340 employees in Wales were found to be working for less than the minimum wage while almost 120 employers were caught not complying with the law.
The largest number of underpaid workers at 99 were working in the SA (Swansea post code area) with 95 in the CF (Cardiff post code area).
Leanne Wood, who has been campaigning for a crackdown against rogue employers, said: “I’m fed up with this continuing softly softly approach to employers not paying the minimum wage.
“I cannot find details of there ever being any prosecutions in Wales brought by HMRC. Low paid workers must be protected but also the law must be brought down hard on employers as it would with benefit fraud.
“Employers have no excuses for not paying people properly given the law has been in existence for such a length of time.”
Leanne Wood has asked UK Business Secretary Vince Cable to press the HMRC to take a tougher line against employers breaking the law.
“I hope the new Business Secretary will be more pro-active in acting against rogue employers than the last New Labour Government was. They brought in the legislation but then didn’t enforce it strongly enough.”
