37 employers have been named for failing to pay the national minimum wage to some of its employees37 employers who failed to pay their workers at least the National Minimum Wage have been named and shamed by the government.
The employers, who include retail chain H&M who failed to pay the correct wage for 540 workers, owe between then over £177,000 in arrears and have been charged financial penalties totalling over £51,000.
55 employers have already been named by the government since the scheme came into force in October 2013. The total arrears for the firms were over £139,000 with total penalties over £60,000.
As part of the plans for compliance and enforcement of the National Minimum Wage from the government, the HM Revenue and Customs’ National Minimum Wage enforcement budget has been increased by a further £3 million in the financial year of 2015 to 2016 – taking the total to over £12 million, with the extra money increasing the number of HMRC compliance officers.
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.”
“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 full list of the employers who failed to pay can be seen of the government website.
