Four Welsh businesses have been fined for failing to pay the minimum wage. The firms are among a list of 202 employers across the UK that have been named by the UK Government for failing to pay their lowest paid staff the minimum wage.
Almost £5 million was found to be owed to around 63,000 workers following investigations by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs dating back as far as 2017. Named employers have been made to pay back what they owed, and in addition were fined around £7 million.
Read more: The latest appointments, promotions and jobs news from across Wales
The Welsh firms named on the list are:
The Lion Hotel in Criccieth which failed to pay £20,322.27 to nine workers
Twenty Four Seven Recruitment Services in Wrexham which failed to pay £17,049.34 to 213 workers
St. Nicholas House near Montgomery in Powys which failed to pay £1,178.53 to two workers
Forza GB in Caldicot which failed to pay £721.34 to two workers
The businesses named have since paid back what they owe to their staff and have also faced financial penalties.
The Department for Business and Trade said that, while not all minimum wage underpayments are intentional, there is “no excuse” for underpaying workers and no employer is exempt. They added that “robust enforcement action” will be taken against employers who do not pay their staff correctly.
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."
The investigation found that 39% of employers named on that list deducted pay from workers’ wages and a further 39% failed to pay workers correctly for their working time. While, 21% of employers paid the incorrect apprenticeship rate.
Welsh Secretary David TC Davies said: “The UK Government is doing everything it can to help people with the cost of living. We have consistently raised the minimum wage and from April this year the rate was increased to £10.42.
“It’s vital that employers in Wales ensure their workers are properly and fairly paid and it’s right that those who do not do so face the consequences.”
Bryan Sanderson, chair of the Low Pay Commission, said: “The minimum wage acts as a guarantee to ensure all workers without exception receive a decent minimum standard of pay. Where employers break the law, they not only do a disservice to their staff but also undermine fair competition between businesses. Regular naming rounds should be a useful tool in raising awareness of underpayment and helping to protect minimum wage workers.”
Since 2015, the budget for minimum wage enforcement has doubled with the Government having ordered employers to repay over £100 million to one million workers. The National Living Wage was increased in April this year, leading to lowest paid workers in the UK seeing a rise of 9.7%.
Clear guidance for employers on pay is available on GOV.UK , and today the government has published additional advice about breaches and the steps employers should take to make sure they pay their workers correctly.
