Member Article

Union cheers decision to name and shame

TUC union has welcomed the decision by Minister for Employment Relations, Norman Lamb, to name and shame a business in Leicester that had flouted the National Minimum Wage.

This Mr Lamb named hair salon owner Rita Patel, trading as Treena Professional Hair & Beauty, who had neglected to pay £3,361.22 in arrears of the NMW to a former worker following investigation by HM Revenue and Customs.

TUC said the Government should name and shame more deliberate offenders and to take more prosecutions against the worst employers.

TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said: “Although the government regularly recovers more than £3 million each year for low-paid workers most minimum wage enforcement work remains invisible.

“Employers need to see the rogue element being prosecuted and named and
shamed so that they have confidence that the law is being rigorously enforced.

“Justice always needs to be seen to be done, and this must mean many more cases being put in the public domain, including some of the bigger employers who have been caught failing to pay the minimum wage.”

Norman Lamb, Minister for Employment Relations said: “The law is clear. Any worker who is entitled to the minimum wage should receive it, that’s why we are committed to clamping down on those who break the law. Where arrears of the minimum wage are identified by HMRC they will always be pursued.

“There is no excuse for not paying the NMW in the first place but failing to pay on being required to do so by investigators from HM Revenue and Customs is unacceptable.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .