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Over 200 companies failed to pay almost £5 million to more than 60,000 workers
The UK government has today named more than 200 companies that have failed to pay over 60,000 workers the minimum wage. The firms, which include household names like WH Smith, LloydsPharmacy and Marks & Spencer, failed to pay a total of almost £5 million to workers.
Companies named have been forced to repay what they owed to their workers and have faced financial penalties. Those penalties add up to over £7 million.
While the government has said that not all minimum wage underpayments are intentional, it has also said there is no excuse for underpaying workers.
According to the government, 39% of the named employers deducted pay from workers’ wages, 39% of employers failed to pay workers correctly for their working time and 21% of employers paid the incorrect apprenticeship rate.
The largest companies involved – WH Smith, LloydsPharmacy and Marks & Spencer have all stated that their underpayments were in error. WH Smith said it made a “genuine error”, and Lloyds Pharmacy said it had made “unintentional” mistakes linked to deductions made in relation to uniforms. Marks & Spencer blamed an “unintentional technical issue from over four years ago” relating to weekly payments for temporary workers.
The news has been met with widespread outrage.
Labour MSP Carol Mochan said: “Regulation is far too relaxed. Massive companies are getting away with ripping off their workers”.
Prem Sikka – Emeritus Professor of Accounting at the University of Essex and the University of Sheffield, and a Labour member of the House of Lords – said: “WH Smith, Lloyds Pharmacy, Marks & Spencer, Argos among 200 firms that didn’t pay minimum wage to 63000 workers. They didn’t forget to hand [fat-cat] paypackets to directors, did they? Puny fines won’t do much. Fines must equal pay of the entire board.”
In announcing the list of companies, the minister for enterprise, markets and small Business Kevin Hollinrake said: “Paying the legal minimum wage is non-negotiable and all businesses, whatever their size, should know better than to short-change hard-working staff.
“Most businesses do the right thing and look after their employees, but we’re sending a clear message to the minority who ignore the law: pay your staff properly or you’ll face the consequences.”
Here is the full list of the companies named:
Chris Jarvis is head of strategy and development at Left Foot Forward
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