Record £2m owed in back pay by employers who have breached NMW/NLW

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy have published a list “naming and shaming” 233 business that failed to pay the National Minimum Wage (‘NMW’) and the National Living Wage (‘NLW’) to workers.

In accordance with the Government’s scheme to name and shame employers who breach NMW or NLW, more than 13,000 of the UK’s lowest paid workers who did not receive the age-related minimum wage rate will receive approximately £2 million in back pay.

Melissa Tatton, Director at HMRC stated:

“HMRC is committed to getting money back into the pockets of underpaid workers and continues to crack down on employers who ignore the law.”

“Those not paying workers the National Minimum or Living Wage can expect to face the consequences.”

Common errors made by employers included deducting money from pay packets to pay for uniforms, failure to account for overtime hours and incorrectly paying the apprenticeship minimum wage rate of £3.50 to individuals who should in fact be classified as workers and entitled to a higher rate.

Among the lengthy list of businesses who breached NMW/NLW, well-known catalogue company, Argos, has emerged as the worst offender with a failure to pay £1,461,881.78 to 12,176 workers.

In addition to “naming and shaming” and recovering pay which was neglected to be paid to workers, Government has issued fines of a record £1.9 million to employers who were caught breaching the minimum wage rates.

To view the full list, click here.

Aspire Comment

Are you concerned about whether you are meeting your NMW/NLW obligations as an employer? To avoid the financial and reputational risk of being on the next name and shame list or receiving a visit from HMRC, give Aspire a call on 0121 445 6178.