Fifteen Scottish firms are among more than 350 UK companies to have been “named and shamed” by the UK government as national minimum and living wage offenders yesterday. Andthat lenghty list could have been even longer – HMRC is currently investigating more than 1,500 open cases.
The employers on the largest list ever compiled by the Department of Business must now give 124 members of staff a total of £29,033 in back pay. Among the offenders are Debenhams and St Mirren Football Club.
Debenhams Retail plc failed to pay £134,894.83 to 11,858 workers.
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy named 359 businesses who underpaid 15,513 workers a total of £994,685, with employers in the hairdressing, hospitality and retail sectors the most prolific offenders. As well as recovering arrears for some of the UK’s lowest paid workers, HMRC issued penalties worth around £800,000.
For the first time, the naming list includes employers who failed to pay eligible workers at least the new National Living Wage rate, which is currently £7.20 for workers aged 25 and over.
Business Minister Margot James said: “Every worker in the UK is entitled to at least the national minimum or living wage and this government will ensure they get it. That is why we have named and shamed more than 350 employers who failed to pay the legal minimum, sending the clear message to employers that minimum wage abuses will not go unpunished.”
Excuses for underpaying workers included using tips to top up pay, docking workers’ wages to pay for their Christmas party and making staff pay for their own uniforms out of their salary.
The ‘named and shamed’ companies are:
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