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Minimum wage cheats
Two telecommunication companies have been ordered to pay wage arrears of almost £100,000 to 197 of their call centre telesales workers.
The companies claimed that the employees were apprentices, but an employment tribunal ruled that they were entitled to a higher rate of the National Minimum Wage (NMW). Axis Telecom Ltd was ordered to repay £21,224 in arrears to 14 workers, and Servizon Ltd was ordered to repay arrears of £75,117 to 183 workers. In addition, a penalty of £5,000 per company was also imposed.
TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said the case shows why we must put more resources into catching minimum wage cheats. “Rogue bosses who knowingly set out to underpay their workers must be publicly named and shamed,” she said.
“Nearly a million UK workers rely on the National Minimum Wage, which has become a vital lifeline. There must be no hiding places for companies who flout it.”
Both firms are owned by David Meyers. One of them — Axis — fell foul of another regulatory authority last year, when it was fined £30,000 by the telecoms regulator Ofcom.