TUC: Time to prosecute minimum wage cheats

16 Feb 2017 12:12 PM

The government has yesterday (Wednesday) released a list of employers who have failed to pay their employees the minimum wage.

The list includes household names such as Debenhams, Subway, Lloyds Pharmacy and the Co-op, as well as organisations like St. Mirren football club and Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Trust.

TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said:

“This should be a wake-up call for employers who value their reputation. If you cheat your staff out of the minimum wage you will be named and shamed.

“But we also need to see prosecutions and higher fines for the most serious offenders, especially those who deliberately flout the law.

“Minimum wage dodgers must have nowhere to hide. We need to see strong unions in every workplace to stop these abuses from happening.”

Notes to Editors: 

• The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy yesterday named 361 businesses who underpaid 15,521 worker a total of £995,684, with employers in the hairdressing, hospitality and retail sectors the most prolific offenders.
• HMRC imposed civil penalties of £1.8 million on employers who failed to pay the minimum wage, averaging £2,184 per case (Source: Government evidence to the Low Pay Commission - 2015/16 figures).
• All TUC press releases can be found at tuc.org.uk/media
• TUC Press Office on Twitter: @tucnews