75 firms named and shamed for not paying minimum wage
Scores of employers who failed to pay staff the minimum wage have been named and shamed by the Government, including hairdressers, security firms, and a holiday park.
The 9th Duke of Rutland Will Trust in Grantham is included in a list of 75 employers, for "neglecting" to pay over £4,000 to 57 workers.
The named companies owed over £153,000 in arrears to workers, discovered after investigations by Revenue and Customs (HMRC).
Almost 300 employers have been named and shamed since a scheme was launched in 2013, with total arrears of almost £800,000 and penalties of more than £325,000.
The new list is the first to be published since the general election.
Many of those identified owed money to a handful of workers, with the sums involved ranging from £100 for one employee at the Joomla Balti House in Market Rasen, Lincolnshire, to £12,700 to two workers at Lime Tree Holiday Park in Buxton, Derbyshire.
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Other firms were in sectors including fashion, publishing, hospitality, automotive, social care and retail.
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.
"When the new national living wage is introduced next April we will enforce robustly. This means that the hard-working people of the UK will get the pay rise they deserve."
From October the adult statutory rate will increase by 20p to £6.70 an hour.
- HMRC and the Business Department are targeting employers in the hairdressing and beauty sectors in a new campaign to make sure they pay the minimum wage.
Other firms named and shamed included Mytton and Mermaid in Shrewsbury, Bibas Hair & Beauty in London, Cherry Tree Autos in Treharris, South Wales, Brady Insurance Services, Enniskillen, and Spring Lodge Residential Home, Worthing, West Sussex.
TUC general secretary Frances O'Grady said: "Naming and shaming cheating employers is a move in the right direction by the Government. But with hundreds of employers being caught underpaying each year, naming and shaming is just the first step.
"There needs to be more prosecutions and the maximum fine should be increased to £75,000 – so that repeat offenders and those who commit aggravated offences, like keeping false records, feel the full weight of the law bearing down on them. While the modest increases in resources for enforcing the minimum wage are welcome, the Government still needs to pick up the pace."
More on AOL Money:
Budget 2015: National Living Wage introduced
Tax pledge for low-paid workers
Minimum wage to rise 20p to £6.70
