Government ‘names and shames’ more minimum wage offenders

The Government has “named and shamed” a further 37 firms that have failed to pay their staff the National Minimum Wage.

It’s part of an ongoing campaign against rogue employers, which began in October 2013.

The 37 firms between them owe their employees a total of more than £177,000 in wage arrears. They have been ordered to pay the arrears and have also been fined a total of £51,000.

Business Minister Jo Swinson said: “Paying less than the minimum wage is illegal, immoral and completely unacceptable. If employers break this law they need to know that we will take tough action by naming, shaming and fining them as well as helping workers recover the hundreds of thousands of pounds in pay owed to them.

“We are also looking at what more we can do to make sure workers are paid fairly in the first place. As well as being publicly named and shamed, employers that fail to pay their workers the National Minimum Wage face penalties of up to £20,000. We are legislating through the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Bill so that this penalty can be applied to each underpaid worker rather than per employer.”

The current National Minimum Wage rates are:

• Adult rate (21 and over) – £6.50 per hour
• 18 to 20 year olds – £5.13 per hour
• 16 to 17 year olds – £3.79 per hour
• Apprentice rate – £2.73 per hour.

HM Revenue & Customs are being given an extra £3m to fund more compliance officers to identify businesses that pay less than the minimum wage.

Please contact John Carter if you would like more information about the issues raised in this article or any aspect of employment law.