Government names and shames 191 employers who have underpaid workers, including major household names
named firms have been fined for owing £2.1 million to over 34,000 workers
Business Minister Paul Scully: “Employers that short-change workers won’t get off lightly”
Today (Thursday 5 August) 191 businesses are being named for breaking national minimum wage law.
Following investigations by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, a total of £2.1 million was found to be owed to over 34,000 workers.
The breaches took place between 2011 and 2018. Named employers have since been made to pay back what they owed, and were fined an additional £3.2 million, showing it is never acceptable to underpay workers.
The UK government recently gave millions a pay rise, by increasing National Living Wage and National Minimum Wage rates in April 2021. The rise means someone working full time on the National Living Wage will be taking home £5,400 more annually than they were in 2010. Every single UK worker is entitled to the National Minimum Wage, no matter their age or profession.
Whilst not all minimum wage underpayments are intentional, it has always been the responsibility of all employers to abide by the law. Clear guidance is available on gov.uk, which all employers should check.
Minimum wage breaches can occur when workers are being paid on or just above the minimum wage rate, and then have deductions from their pay for uniform or accommodation.
The employers named today previously underpaid workers in the following ways:
47% wrongly deducted pay from workers’ wages, including for uniform and expenses
30% failed to pay workers for all the time they had worked, such as when they worked overtime
19% paid the incorrect apprenticeship rate
Our minimum wage laws are there to ensure a fair day’s work gets a fair day’s pay – it is unacceptable for any company to come up short. All employers, including those on this list, need to pay workers properly. This government will continue to protect workers’ rights vigilantly, and employers that short-change workers won’t get off lightly.
Employers who pay workers less than the minimum wage have to pay back arrears of wages to the worker at current minimum wage rates. They also face hefty financial penalties of up to 200% of arrears - capped at £20,000 per worker - which are paid to the government. Since 2015 the government has ordered employers to repay over £100 million to 1 million workers.
A significant number of the minimum wage breaches identified today affected those on apprenticeships. Today the government has published new guidance to ensure employers know exactly what they need to do to pay their apprentices, and all workers, correctly.
National Minimum Wage Naming Scheme Round 17, August 2021: educational bulletin ( PDF , 541KB, 7 pages)
The government is committed to protecting workers’ rights and while the vast majority of businesses follow the law and uphold workers’ rights, the publication of this list serves as a reminder to employers that the government will take action against those who fail to pay their employees the minimum wage.
As well as advice for employers, HMRC offers advice for all workers on how to ensure they are being paid correctly via the Check your pay website.
Chair of the Low Pay Commission Bryan Sanderson said:
These are very difficult times for all workers, particularly those on low pay who are often undertaking critical tasks in a variety of key sectors including care. The minimum wage provides a crucial level of support and compliance is essential for the benefit of both the recipients and our society as a whole.
the minimum wage law applies to all parts of the UK
employers should always carry out the necessary checks and information can be found: see the Calculating the Minimum Wage guidance
for further information on paying the minimum wage and top tips to make sure you’re paying apprentices properly, please see the educational bulletin:
National Minimum Wage Naming Scheme Round 17, August 2021: educational bulletin ( PDF , 541KB , 7 pages )
the Naming Scheme was paused in 2018 so that an evaluation into its effectiveness could be carried out. On 11 February 2020 the government announced that the Naming Scheme would resume, and the last round took place on 31 December 2020. See more information on the last round
the government undertook a review of the Naming Scheme last year to ascertain its effectiveness and ensure Naming was used in the most efficient way. The review was published on 11 February 2020
List of employers named in Round 17
This is the full list of employers being named and shamed for failing to pay the National Minimum Wage, with fuller detail provided in the attached spreadsheet:
National Minimum Wage Naming Scheme, Round 17: employers named for underpayment, August 2021 (MS Excel Spreadsheet, 66KB)
alwaller1 on August 5th, 2021 at 03:46 UTC »
‘Miss Emma Aitken, trading as Razor King, South Lanarkshire, G73, failed to pay £1327.5 to 1 worker’
That one person! That’s so much money to not pay them!
blargfargr on August 5th, 2021 at 00:53 UTC »
A rare time on the frontpage to have 2 posts about "name and shame" in 2 different countries
very_excited on August 4th, 2021 at 23:41 UTC »
At the top of the list is the department store and supermarket chain John Lewis, which failed to pay £941,355.67 to 19,392 workers. The full list of the 191 companies is in the press release.
According to the article:
47% wrongly deducted pay from workers’ wages, including for uniform and expenses 30% failed to pay workers for all the time they had worked, such as when they worked overtime 19% paid the incorrect apprenticeship rate