Paisley dentist in pay shock

A Paisley dentist has been named as one of more then 200 employers nationwide who underpaid the National Living Minimum Wage.

Aydy Dental Care Limited, trading as Paisley Dental Clinic, failed to pay £402.63 to one worker, with average arrears of £402.63 per worker, according to Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs.

In total, £ 1.44m in back pay was identified for 22,400 workers across the UK, with the employers fined additional £1.97m.

Business Minister Andrew Griffiths said: “Our priority is making sure workers know their rights and are getting the pay they worked hard for. Employers who don’t do the right thing face fines as well as being hit with the bill for backpay.

“The UK’s lowest paid workers have had the fastest wage growth in 20 years thanks to the introduction of the National Living Wage and today’s list serves as a reminder to all employers to check they are getting their workers’ pay right.”

The top five reasons for National Minimum and Living Wage underpayments in the current round were taking deductions from wages for costs such as uniforms, underpaying apprentices, failing to pay travel time, misusing the accommodation offset, and using the wrong time periods for calculating pay.

The government is currently running a campaign to raise awareness of the National Living Wage and National Minimum Wage rates, which increased on April 1, 2018, as well as encouraging workers who have been underpaid to complain to HMRC.

Employers who pay workers less than the minimum wage have to pay back arrears of wages to the worker at current minimum wage rates and face financial penalties of up to 200 per cent of arrears, capped at £20,000 per worker.

For more information visit www.gov.uk/checkyourpay