14 firms are named for underpaying employees
FOURTEEN businesses in Wales have been named and shamed for underpaying their workers. Nearly 240 employers across the UK who underpaid the National Living and Minimum Wage have been named today, with the 14 in Wales affecting 64 workers who will now receive backpay totalling more than £20,500.
The backpay identified by HMRC was for more workers UK wide than in any previous single naming list
WALES-BASED COMPANIES ON THE LIST...
Lyons Holiday Park Limited, Denbighshire LL18, failed to pay £7,321.01 to 12 workers, with average arrears of £610.08 per worker;
Nick’s 76 Services Limited, trading as Nick’s Car Wash, Conwy LL22, failed to pay £3,601.20 to three workers, with average arrears of £1,200.40 per worker;
Accent on Education Limited , Newport NP20, failed to pay £2,293.23 to nine workers, with average arrears of £254.80 per worker;
Aingarth Rest Home Limited , Conwy LL28, failed to pay £1,836.60 to nine workers, with average arrears of and has generated record fines of £1.97m.
Employers underpaid workers by taking deductions from wages for uniforms, underpaying apprentices and failing to pay travel time.
Secretary of State for Wales Alun Cairns called paying less than the minimum wage “illegal, immoral £204.07 per worker;
Mr Stuart Rooke, trading as S R Motors , Carmarthenshire SA39, failed to pay £1,762.43 to one worker, with average arrears of £1,762.43 per worker;
Mansion House Llansteffan Ltd , Carmarthenshire SA33, failed to pay £1,087.13 to 2 workers, with average arrears of £543.57 per worker;
Mrs Meyanee Homnan, trading as Sew 4 Sure , Swansea SA1, failed to pay £616.36 to two workers, with average arrears of £308.18 per worker;
Restaurant James Sommerin Limited, trading as Restaurant James and completely unacceptable”.
“If employers break this law they need to know that we will take tough action by naming, shaming and fining them, as well as helping workers recover the hundreds of thousands of pounds in pay owed to them,” said Mr Cairns.
“Thanks to the UK government investigations hundreds of Wales’ lowest-paid workers are being backpaid every year, as we continue to build a Wales, and wider United Sommerin, Vale of Glamorgan CF64, failed to pay £487.57 to one worker, with average arrears of £487.57 per worker;
Mr Nicholas James Chan, trading as Riverside Cantonese Restaurant , Cardiff CF11, failed to pay £346.39 to eight workers, with average arrears of £43.3 per worker;
Miss Linda Dykes, trading as Diamond Cleaning (What Can Shine Will Shine) , Conwy LL22, failed to pay £294.17 to 11 workers, with average arrears of £26.74 per worker;
Mr Piotr Antoni Zielinski, trading as Max Polish Shop, Carmarthenshire Kingdom, that works for everyone.”
Low Pay Commission chairman Bryan Sanderson said: “It is crucial that employers understand their responsibilities and workers know their rights around the minimum wage. That is why active enforcement and effective communication from government is so important.
“It is therefore encouraging to see that HMRC has recovered unpaid wages for the largest number of workers yet in this round of naming SA40, failed to pay £285.04 to three workers, with average arrears of £95.01 per worker;
G.Williams & Son (Butchers) Limited, Gwynedd LL57, failed to pay £257.82 to one worker, with average arrears of £257.82 per worker;
The New Sandon Garage Limited , Cardiff CF24, failed to pay £220.73 to one worker, with average arrears of £220.73 per worker;
Owens (Road Services) Limited , Carmarthenshire SA14, failed to pay £112.50 to one worker, with average arrears of £112.50 per worker. and shaming. I’m confident that the government will continue to pursue underpayment vigorously.”
Funding for minimum wage enforcement has more than doubled since 2015, with the government set to spend £26.3m in 2018/19.
The scheme is in its fifth year and calls out employers who have fallen foul of minimum wage laws, so far identifying £10.8m in backpay for around 90,000 workers, with more than 1,900 employers fined a total of £8.4m. HMRC has launched a series of webinars, available on GOV.UK, to help employers check that they are complying with the law.
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. The campaign website has had more than 600,000 visits since the campaign kicked off on April 1.
Employers who pay workers less than the minimum wage have to pay arrears to the worker at current minimum wage rates and face penalties of up to 200% of arrears, capped at £20,000 per worker.