Debenhams, Subway and the Co-op were among the companies named
More than 350 companies have been named and shamed by the government for failing to pay their employees the minimum wage. The offenders include Debenhams, Subway, Lloyds Pharmacy and the Co-op.
The means by which the minimum standard was avoided include using tips to top up pay, docking workers’ wages to pay for their Christmas party and making staff pay for their own uniforms out of their salary.
Union leaders have responded angrily to the revelations, published by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial strategy.
TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady called for prosecution of companies who ‘deliberately flout the law’.
“This should be a wake-up call for employers who value their reputation. If you cheat your staff out of the minimum wage you will be named and shamed.
“But we also need to see prosecutions and higher fines for the most serious offenders, especially those who deliberately flout the law. Minimum wage dodgers must have nowhere to hide. We need to see strong unions in every workplace to stop these abuses from happening.”
UNISON general secretary Dave Prentis warned that today’s revelations are ‘just the tip of the iceberg’, warning that the list ‘fails to shame the larger care firms who are equally guilty of denying staff a fair wage.’
Some care firms were included on the list — including Clackmannan in Scotland which failed to pay a total of £17,685 to 40 staff — but the public services union believs there is a much larger problem with pay in the care sector.
The current national minimum wage is £7.20 for over-25s, four pounds for under-18s and £3.40 for apprentices.
See: Anti-union Pimlico Plumbers boss loses appeal over workers’ entitlements
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One Response to “Calls for minimum wage cheats to be prosecuted as 350 offenders revealed”
Michael
let’s see a few high profile prosecutions and gaol sentences.