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The government will toughen enforcement against employers who do not pay the national minimum wage today when it writes to hundreds of companies warning them they could be targeted for on-the-spot checks by the taxman. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) will warn 200 businesses who have advertised placements for unpaid internships that they could be "publicly named and shamed" and may be liable for a £5,000 fine if they are found to be in breach of national minimum wage laws. The move will coincide with the launch of a national campaign to educate students about their employment rights as they enter the job market. HMRC said that from the tax year in April, it had issued penalties to 466 employers, a significant rifrom 2009/10 when just 381 employers were issued with an HMRC penalty for not paying the minimum wage, currently at £6.31 for those aged 21 and over. Business, Innovation and Skills minister for employment, Jo Swinson said there was "increasing concern" around unpaid internships especially in the current economic climate. "Those occasions when you have people working for months on end for free, really is problematic." Letters from HMRC would "keep businesses on their toes", she said, and ensure they were "properly assessing the legality of what they are doing". "We don't want to have a system where people get exploited and companies try to help themselves to free labour ... when receiving these letters I would hope that firms think very carefully about how the law [operates] for the opportunities they're offering." | 
