HMRC has published a list of 139 employers who failed to pay their employee’s minimum wage. During 2016 to 2018, HMRC discovered 139 companies had failed to pay a total of £6.7 million to over 95,000 employees.
The most common reason for minimum wage breaches was employers expecting low paid staff to cover work costs, such as, paying for parking, training or uniform. Some employers also failed to increase staff pay after a birthday, which should have changed what National Minimum Wage bracket they were in. Companies who pay their employees anything less than minimum wage are in breach of employment law.
Employers who have been found to pay their workers less than minimum wage, must pay back their workers at the current minimum wage rates. There are also penalties to pay of up to 200%, capped at £10,000 per worker.
HMRC found that one employer failed to pay over £5 million to 78,199 workers.
The government hopes that the publication of the list will serve as a warning to all businesses that they must follow employment law and uphold workers’ rights.
The full list can be found on gov.uk.
