The Department for Business and Trade has warned that it is clamping down on businesses which fail to pay the national minimum wage. Nearly 60,000 workers who have been left out of pocket will be repaid over £7.4 million, it said in a statement on Thursday 29 May.
Some 518 employers and businesses have been forced to pay back what they owe to their staff and faced financial penalties of up to 200% of their underpayment.
Several high-profile names were included on the government’s list, including Pizza Express, Hilton Hotels, retailer Lidl, and BA’s regional airline Cityflyer. A full list of the businesses and how much they owed employees can be found here.
This data was based on audits conducted by the HMRC between 2015-2022. This means that these companies could have rectified these issues in the last three years, but it has not stopped the government from naming and shaming them as a warning.
Whilst not all minimum wage underpayments are intentional, the Government is clear that enforcement action will be taken against employers who do not pay their staff correctly, it said.
The department noted that putting more money into the pockets of the lowest-paid increases workers’ financial security, offers stability to help increase staff retention and lowers recruitment costs for businesses in the long run.
“There is no excuse for employers to undercut their workers, and we will continue to name companies who break the law and don’t pay their employees what they are owed,” said Justin Madders, Minister for Employment Rights.
“Ensuring workers have the support they need and making sure they receive a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work is a key commitment in our Plan for Change. This will put more money in working people’s pockets, helping to boost productivity and ending low pay.”
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