The department for Business, Innovation & SkillsMore than 90 employers including Quattro Recruitment Ltd have failed to pay their workers the National Minimum Wage and have been named and shamed, Business Minister Nick Boles announced today.
Between them, the 92 companies named owed £1,873,712 in arrears, and cover sectors including hairdressing, social care, hospitality, recruitment and security services.
Since the scheme was introduced in October 2013, 490 employers have been named and shamed, with total arrears of over £3,000,000 and total penalties of over £1,100,000.
Business Minister Nick Boles said:
“As a one nation government on the side of working people we are determined that everyone who is entitled to the National Minimum Wage receives it. There is no excuse for not paying staff the wages they’re entitled to.
“Our policy of naming and shaming employers who ignore the law means there are consequences for their reputation as well as their wallets.
“In April we will introduce a new National Living Wage which will mean a pay rise of over £900-a-year for someone working full time on the minimum wage and we will enforce this equally robustly.”
On 1 October 2015, the National Minimum Wage (NMW) rose to £6.70. Employers should be aware of the different rates for the National Minimum Wage depending on the circumstances of their workers.
The 92 cases named today were thoroughly investigated by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).
The naming and shaming scheme was revised in October 2013 to make it simpler to name and shame employers that do not comply with minimum wage rules.
Businesses or employees who have any questions about the National Minimum Wage can contact Acas online by visiting www.acas.org.uk/nmw.
The 92 employers named today are:
- Quattro Recruitment Ltd, Norwich, failed to pay £2,239.00 to 431 employees
- TSS (Total Security Services) Limited, London E4, failed to pay £1,742,655.56 to 2,519 employees.
- Abbey House (Cumbria) Ltd, trading as Abbey House Hotel, Barrow-in-Furness, failed to pay £13,468.47 to 13 employees.
- Richard Lewis Communications plc, Southampton, failed to pay, £8,751.99, to 3 employees.
- Kiddy Academy Hunts Cross Ltd, Liverpool, failed to pay £8,297.50 to 2 employees.
- Oldham Premier Plumbing Supplies Ltd, Oldham, failed to pay £6,270.28 to 1 employee.
- Matt Jenkins, trading as Matt Jenkins Dressage, Chipping Norton, failed to pay £6,184.32 to 1 employee.
- Claire Reasons & Vanessa Nimmo-Cameron, trading as Merritime Nursery, Gosport, failed to pay £5,344.48 to 1 employee.
- JG’s Hair & Beauty Ltd, Northallerton, failed to pay £3,427.21 to 3 employees.
- Seed Event Solutions Ltd, London EC2, failed to pay £3,407.32 to 1 employee.
- VP Concessions Ltd, trading as Treadstone, Leicester, failed to pay £3,111.06 to 2 employees.
- Saxons PS Ltd, Burnham-on-Sea, failed to pay £3,045.66 to 1 employee.
- Ocean Dental Ltd, trading as Ocean Dental Implant & Aesthetic Clinic, Manchester, failed to pay £2,819.01 to 2 employees.
- Louisa Horner, trading as The Beauty Specialist, Keighley, failed to pay £2,807.13 to 2 employees.
- Woodside Nursery Ltd, trading as Woodside Nursery School, Waterlooville, failed to pay £2,799.03 to 1 employee.
- Petersfield Joinery Ltd, Petersfield, failed to pay £2,720.89 to 1 employee.
- Helping Hands Day Nursery Ltd, Tilbury, failed to pay £2,629.58 to 1 employee.
- Care One 2 One Ltd, Caerphilly, failed to pay £2,441.00 to 1 employee.
- Umberto Giannini Hair Cosmetics Ltd, Birmingham, failed to pay £2,172.53 to 2 employees.
- Bayliss Commercial Builders Ltd, Tamworth, failed to pay £2,086.30 to 1 employee.
- Connells Residential, trading as Connells Estate Agents, Leighton Buzzard, failed to pay £2,049.14 to 1 employee.
- Holly Tree Maintenance Ltd, Bacup, failed to pay £1,839.63 to 1 employee.
- Floorbrite Cleaning Contractors Ltd, Manchester, failed to pay £1,703.26 to 248 employees.
- Childcare Directory Ltd, trading as Whiz Kids Day Nursery, Peterborough, failed to pay £1,698.02 to 1 employee.
- Hard Hat Logistics Ltd, Liverpool, failed to pay £1,695.15 to 1 employee.
- Elaine Harvie & S J Kirkbride trading as Shades, Stevenage, failed to pay £1,527.40 to 1 employee.
- Grove Reed Joinery Ltd, Bishop Auckland, failed to pay £1,514.20 to 1 employee.
- Centra Link Ltd, Calne, failed to pay £1,483.14 to 1 employee.
- Hayes Freight Ltd, Walsall, failed to pay £1,465.46 to 1 employee.
- Stage London Ltd, trading as Stage Hair & Beauty Salon, London SW6, failed to pay £1,433.26 to 2 employees.
- Poplars Equestrian Ltd, Bridgwater, failed to pay £1,372.93 to 1 employee.
- Hearns Coaches Ltd, Harrow, failed to pay £1,347.50 to 1 employee.
- E & C Joinery Ltd, Doncaster, failed to pay £1,283.33 to 1 employee.
- A & G Garages Ltd, Manchester M11, failed to pay £1,197.39 to 2 employees.
- Park Resorts Ltd, trading as Brynowen Holiday Park, Dyfed, failed to pay £1,184.78 to 2 employees.
- Spinnaker Ltd, trading as Heaven Sent, Rhyl, failed to pay £1,165.70 to 1 employee.
- Century24 Limited, London E10, failed to pay £945.11 to 1 employee.
- Fulford News Ltd, trading as K P News & Fulford Road Post Office, Bristol, failed to pay £913.14 to 1 employee.
- Compass Services (UK) Ltd, trading as Premier Inn, Swanley, failed to pay £859.20 to 1 employee.
- Golden Financial Solutions Ltd, Bradford, failed to pay £852.15 to 6 employees.
- Dee Set Confectionery Ltd, Stoke-on-Trent, failed to pay £838.95 to 1 employee.
- Sara Buchanan, trading as Guys and Dolls, Holywell, failed to pay £781.28 to 1 employee.
- Oltec Group Holding Ltd, Wigan, failed to pay £774.04 to 4 employees.
- Priory Park Hair Salon Ltd, Stoke-on-Trent, failed to pay £766.93 to 1 employee.
- Christopher J Sargeant Ltd, Camberley, failed to pay £729.34 to 2 employees.
- USUK Ltd, trading as Urban Style, Peterlee, failed to pay £712.05 to 4 employees.
- Ipsum Contracts Ltd, Worcester, failed to pay £689.00 to 1 employee.
- Parkem Chemists Ltd, Leicester, failed to pay £687.89 to 4 employees.
- Ultra Furniture Ltd, Kingswinford, failed to pay £599.39 to 5 employees.
- Into The Blue (SW) Ltd, trading as Into The Blue, Barnstaple, failed to pay £589.96 to 1 employees.
- Cormorant Survey (UK) Ltd, Doncaster, failed to pay £585.00 to 1 employee.
- Earthgrass Ltd, trading as Khushi’s, Edinburgh, failed to pay £564.00 to 1 employee.
- Hurnfield Hargate Ltd, trading as The Farm Café, Spalding, failed to pay £558.99 to 1 employee.
- Carefree Communications Ltd, Rochester, failed to pay £556.61 to 1 employee.
- The Ship Inn (Pub & Kitchen) Ltd, Chester, failed to pay £529.80 to 1 employee.
- Charlie Miller Hairdressing Ltd, trading as Charlie Miller, Edinburgh EH3, failed to pay £529.68 to 1 employee.
- Premier Posting Services Ltd, Birmingham, failed to pay £504.80 to 1 employee.
- New Homeworld Ltd, Glasgow, failed to pay £468.00 to 1 employee.
- Loungers Ltd, trading as Bonzo Lounge, Bristol, failed to pay £459.88 to 1 employee.
- Zucca Bistro Ltd, East Kilbride, failed to pay £454.74 to 1 employee.
- Linell Precision Engineering Ltd, Johnstone, failed to pay £425.67 to 1 employee.
- Clear the Red Ltd, Manchester, failed to pay £408.33 to 2 employees.
- Tates Travel Ltd, Barnsley, failed to pay £384.94 to 1 employee.
- Jadruti Parekh, trading as Park Farm Centre Post Office, Allestree, failed to pay £383.98 to 1 employee.
- The Fresh Food Company (2007) Ltd, Glasgow, failed to pay £361.79 to 1 employee.
- Crispy Crust Ltd, trading as Pizza Hut, Edinburgh EH12, failed to pay £309.02 to 13 employees.
- Harknss Ltd, trading as Delight Coffee House, Gloucester, failed to pay £299.00 to 1 employee.
- Free Spirit Automotive Ltd, Leighton Buzzard, failed to pay £288.69 to 1 employee.
- Nattrav Ltd, Bishop Auckland, failed to pay £287.93 to 1 employee.
- Sentricare East Mids Ltd, Derby, failed to pay £265.03 to 1 employee.
- Mini Max Tyres Ltd, Stockport, failed to pay £256.56 to 1 employee.
- Andrea of Wembley (Watford) Ltd, Watford, failed to pay £245.38 to 3 employees.
- Peter Limb, trading as The Interior Design Bureau, Mansfield failed to pay £215.75 to 1 employee.
- Goldex Investments (Surrey) Ltd, trading as Costa Coffee, Oxted, failed to pay £212.88 to 1 employee.
- Thackerays Restaurants Ltd, trading as Thackeray’s, Tunbridge Wells, failed to pay £211.70 to 1 employee.
- Mark Andrew Development (MAD) Ltd, trading as The Fitzgerald, Manchester, failed to pay £197.01 to 1 employee.
- Broch Tandoori Ltd, trading as Broch Tandoori, Fraserburgh, failed to pay £193.46 to 5 employees.
- Lorraine’s Care Home Ltd, trading as Lorraine’s Care Home, Swadlincote, failed to pay £183.35 to 1 employee.
- P&S Foods Ltd, trading as Sam’s Chicken, London TW3, failed to pay £182.00 to 2 employees.
- Social Health Care Ltd trading as Caremark Luton & Beds, Luton, failed to pay £176.11 to 1 employee.
- Hair Heroes Ltd, Inverness, failed to pay £173.63 to 1 employee.
- Autovets Sussex Ltd, Brighton, failed to pay £161.81 to 1 employee.
- Paul Mason, trading as Bassett Tea Rooms, Southampton, failed to pay £159.26 to 1 employee.
- Paul Blaney & Elaine Blaney, trading as Craftsman Cleaners, Belfast, failed to pay £149.81 to 2 employees.
- Emin Markets Ltd, Sheffield, failed to pay £148.77 to 1 employee.
- The Welbeck Bakehouse Ltd, Worksop, failed to pay £133.40 to 1 employee.
- Derek Jones, trading as Re’Lec, Northampton, failed to pay £129.36 to 1 employee.
- Sunamgonj Spice Ltd, trading as Cinnamon Spice, Sheffield, failed to pay £123.85 to 1 employee.
- DMR Electrical (Norfolk & Suffolk) Ltd, Halesworth, failed to pay £117.68 to 1 employee.
- Organic Warehouse (Chelsea) Ltd, trading as Here, London SW3, failed to pay £117.50 to 1 employee.
- Elizabeth House Ltd, Kirkcaldy, failed to pay £117.00 to 1 employee.
- Illingworth Moor Retail Ltd, trading as Subway, Peterlee, failed to pay £102.96 to 2 employees.
Summary
1.Employers have a duty to be aware of the different legal rates for the National Minimum Wage.
The current National Minimum Wage rates are:
- adult rate (21 years and over) – £6.70 per hour
- 18 to 20-year olds – £5.30 per hour
- 16 to 17-year olds – £3.87 per hour
- apprentice rate – £3.30 per hour
The apprentice rate applies to apprentices aged 16 to 18 years and those aged 19 years and over who are in their first year. All other apprentices are entitled to the National Minimum Wage rate for their age.
2.The government is committed to increasing compliance with minimum wage legislation and effective enforcement of it. Everyone who is entitled to the minimum wage should receive it. The BIS scheme to name employers who break minimum wage law came into effect on 1 January 2011. The scheme is 1 of a range of tools at the government’s disposal to tackle this issue. Employers who pay workers less than the minimum wage not only have to pay back arrears of wages at current minimum wage rates but also face financial penalties of up to £20,000 per worker. In the most serious cases employers can be prosecuted.
3.From 1 October 2013 the government revised the naming scheme to make it simpler to name and shame employers who break the law. Under this scheme the Government will name all employers that have been issued with a Notice of Underpayment (NoU) unless employers meet 1 of the exceptional criteria or have arrears of £100 or less. All 92 cases named today (5 February 2016) failed to pay the National Minimum Wage and have arrears of £100 and over.
4.Employers have 28 days to appeal to HMRC against the NoU (this notice sets out the owed wages to be paid by the employer together with the penalty for not complying with minimum wage law). If the employer does not appeal or unsuccessfully appeals against this NoU, BIS will consider them for naming. The employer then has 14 days to make representations toBIS outlining whether they meet any of the exceptional criteria:
Naming by BIS carries a risk of personal harm to an individual or their family;
- there are national security risks associated with naming in this instance
- other factors which suggest that it would not be in the public interest to name the employer (employer to provide details)
If BIS does not receive any representations or the representations received are unsuccessful, the employer will be named via a BIS press release under this scheme.
5.Further information about the revised BIS NMW naming scheme.
6.From 1 April 2016 the government’s new National Living Wage will become law. Workers aged 25 years or over who are not in the first year of an apprenticeship will be legally entitled to at least £7.20 per hour. Employers will be responsible for ensuring they are paying their staff correctly. The National Living Wage will be enforced in the same way as the current National Minimum Wage.
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