Top hairdresser is ‘named and shamed’ over pay
A COMPANY established by one of Scotl and’s l eading celebrity hairdressers has been ‘named and shamed’ by the UK Government for not paying the national minimum wage.
Charlie Miller and his team have styled A-listers including Catherine Zeta Jones, Cherie Blair and Jodie Kidd. The firm also styled hair for the MTV Awards in Glasgow in 2014.
But Charlie Miller Hairdressing Ltd failed to pay an employee £529.68 to which he was entitled. The company has now made it onto a list of 92 UK firms which failed to pay workers a collective total of £1,873,712. It is one of ten Scottish businesses on the list.
UK Business Minister Nick Boles said: ‘ As a one-nation Government on the side of working people, we are determined everyone who is entitled to the national minimum wage receives it.
‘There is no excuse for not paying staff the wages they are entitled to. Our policy of naming and shaming employers who ignore the law means there are consequences for their reputation as well as their wallets.
‘In April, we will introduce a new national living wage which will mean a pay rise of over £900 a year for someone working full time on the minimum wage. We will enforce this equally robustly.’
Mr Miller, 71, started his hairdressing business in a housing scheme in Edinburgh in 1965 – eventually establishing five salons.
The team is now headed by his eldest son, Jason, and daughter-in-law India.
His second son, Joshua, acts as joint managing director with Jason, overseeing all operational and administrative procedures and finance.
Mr Miller retired from hairdressing in 1998, moving focus to the company’s marketing, PR, and business development, while also cutting and styling wigs for the Teenage Cancer Trust.
Last night, Joshua Miller said: ‘Our staff are at the heart of our business and they have helped us build the company we have today. We take our responsibilities as an employer very seriously and ensure we look after them at all levels.
‘Last year we had an apprentice who joined us having already gone through college; the individual was to continue training in our business. We were unsure if our employee should continue to be paid at the apprentice rate or not, so we contacted the national minimum wage support team and were told this remained correct.
‘It was only months later we were advised there had been an underpayment of £529.68. The situation was rectified immediately and we recompensed the individual. We were disappointed to be told of this situation, as we go out of our way to treat staff with respect. This was a mistake due to being given incorrect advice at the time.’