Minimum wage arrears

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has revealed that over £4.6 million in wage arrears has been paid to more than 22,000 workers following a successful year for its National Minimum Wage enforcement teams.

Underpayment cases included an unnamed Premier League football club, which was ordered to pay arrears of over £27,500 to over 3,000 workers after it made deductions for uniforms and travelling time for staff working in hospitality.

The biggest payout involved a social care provider that was found to have not paid its staff for travelling time and other hours worked. It was told to repay over £600,000 in arrears of wages to almost 3,000 workers.

TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said: “It is shocking that so many employers — including some who pay their star players millions of pounds a year — are cheating low-paid workers out of the minimum wage.

“HMRC staff deserve credit for winning back millions of pounds for cheated employees, but they need greater resources to catch the many minimum wage crooks still out there.”

A few days a later, a further 25 employers who failed to pay their employees the minimum wage were named under the new regime introduced last October, which makes it easier to name and shame wrongdoers. Between them they owed workers more than £43,000 in arrears and, in addition, had to pay financial penalties totalling over £21,000.

www.gov.uk/government/news/government-names-employers-who-fail-to-pay-minimum-wage

www.tuc.org.uk/workplace-issues/employment-rights/minimum-wage/hmrc-needs-more-cash-catch-more-minimum-wage-crooks

www.gov.uk/government/news/hmrc-secures-record-46m-minimum-wage-arrears-for-underpaid-workers