260 employers named and shamed
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) has published the latest list of employers that have failed to pay their employees the minimum wage to which they are entitled (either the National Minimum Wage or National Living Wage).
In the latest list, 260 employers have been named and shamed after the government found that 16,000 workers had been owed £1.7m in back pay. Since the new rules were introduced in October 2013, the scheme has identified £8 million in back pay for 58,000 workers, with 1,500 employers fined a total of £5 million. The current list sees more workers that have been underpaid than in any previous naming round.
Commenting on the announcement, the Business Minister, Margot James said:
‘There is no excuse for not paying staff the wages they’re entitled to and the government will come down hard on businesses that break the rules. That’s why today we are naming hundreds of employers who have been short changing their workers; and to ensure there are consequences for their wallets as well as their reputation, we’ve levied millions in back pay and fines.’
The amounts that employees were underpaid ranged from £104.40 for a hotel employee in Bradford to almost £470k in relation to astounding 2,558 employees working for the Best Connection Group Limited an employment group working across the UK. The Government also announced a £25.3m increase in funding to help drive minimum wage enforcement.
Planning note
As well as being publicly named and shamed, employers who fail to pay their workers what they are entitled to can face fines of up to £20,000 for each individual worker that they have underpaid.