Member Article

Named and shamed: National minimum wage offenders in the North West

The Government has named and shamed 70 employers across the country who have failed to pay their workers the National Minimum Wage (NMW)

Nine of the employers are from the North West and are named below.

Between them, these 70 employers owed workers a total of over £157,000 in arrears and have been charged financial penalties totalling over £70,000.

The government has already named 92 employers since the new naming regime came into force in October 2013.

The nine companies in the North West that have been named are:

• Drummonds Ltd, Manchester, neglected to pay £113.58 to a worker.
• Professional Referral Services Ltd, Wigan, neglected to pay £156.93 to 2 workers
• The Mirrors Ltd, Manchester, neglected to pay £262.87 to a worker
• A1 Techsol Ltd, Manchester, neglected to pay £233.47 to a worker
• Honeybees Childcare Ltd, Preston, neglected to pay £276.30 to a worker
• Clearshot Ltd, Manchester, neglected to pay £684.94 to a worker
• Mr L Tolman & Mr S Blanchard trading as Mardi Gras Hotel, Blackpool, neglected to pay £3,206.76 to 3 workers
• J B Howard and Son Ltd, Leyland, neglected to pay £3,469.96 to 7 workers
• Fylde Coast Pizza Ltd trading as Papa Johns, Blackpool, neglected to pay £3,949.62 to 14 workers

Business Minister Jo Swinson said: “Paying less than the minimum wage is illegal, immoral and completely unacceptable.

“Naming and shaming gives a clear warning to employers who ignore the rules, that they will face reputational consequences as well as financial penalties of up to £20,000 if they don’t pay the minimum wage.

“We’re working hard in areas where we know there are particular problems, like the care sector, to make sure staff are paid fairly for the hard work they do.

“We are legislating through the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Bill so that this penalty can be applied to each underpaid worker rather than per employer.

“We are helping workers recover the hundreds of thousands of pounds in pay owed to them as well as raising awareness to make sure workers are paid fairly in the first place.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Sophia Taha .