National Minimum Wage offenders named and shamed

30 Jul 2015 12:23 AM

Yesterday (30 July 2015) Business Minister Nick Boles has named 75 employers who have failed to pay their workers the National Minimum Wage.

Between them, the named companies owed workers over £153,000 in arrears, and span sectors including hairdressing, fashion, publishing, hospitality, health and fitness, automotive, social care, and retail.

This brings the total number of companies named and shamed under the scheme, which was introduced in October 2013, to 285 employers, with total arrears of over £788,000 and total penalties of over £325,000.

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. When the new National Living Wage is introduced next April (2016) we will enforce robustly. This means that the hard-working people of the UK will get the pay rise they deserve.

From October 2015 the National Minimum Wage (NMW) will increase to £6.70. Employers should be well aware of the different rates for the National Minimum Wage depending on the circumstances of their workers. Employers and workers can call the Acas helpline or visit www.gov.uk if they need information about the NMW.

To improve compliance in the hairdressing sector HMRC has launched a NMW campaign to drive voluntary behavioural change. The campaign is an opportunity for employers to check they are paying their employees correctly and ensure any outstanding arrears are paid back to employees.

The 75 employers named yesterday are:

The 75 cases named yesterday (30 July 2015) 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 that have any questions about the National Minimum wage can call Acas on 0300 123 1100 or visit www.gov.uk

Notes to editors

  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:

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.

  1. 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 one 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. In the most serious cases employers can be prosecuted.
  1. 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 one of the exceptional criteria or have arrears of £100 or less. All 75 cases named yesterday failed to pay the national minimum wage and have arrears of over £100.
  1. 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 to BIS outlining whether they meet any of the exceptional criteria:

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.

  1. Further information about the revised BIS NMW naming scheme can be found at National minimum wage law: enforcement