DBT names 524 employers for failure to pay National Minimum Wage
The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) has named 524 employers for failing to pay the national minimum wage.
On 20 February 2024, as part of round 20 of the government's naming scheme, the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) published the names of 524 employers that have failed to pay the national minimum wage (NMW) following investigations by HMRC that concluded between 2015 and 2023. Nearly £16 million had to be repaid to over 172,000 workers together with financial penalties of up to 200% of the underpayment.
An educational bulletin was published alongside round 20, which identified that the main reasons for underpayment of the NMW included:
Deductions from wages for items such as food, uniform, equipment, childcare costs and salary sacrifice schemes.
Unpaid working time, such as where additional work was carried out before and after a shift, where clock-in times had been rounded up, where travel time was not paid, and where a salaried hours worker worked in excess of their basic hours.
Failure to pay the correct rate to apprentices, failure to pay the uprated NMW rate, failure to correctly apply the accommodation offset and failure to pay a worker in accordance with the correct work type.
The educational bulletin focuses on salary sacrifice arrangements, emphasising that the new lower rate of pay contractually agreed as part of such an arrangement is what is considered for NMW purposes, with example scenarios to demonstrate to employers how such arrangements impact on NMW compliance.
Sources:
DBT: Over 500 companies named for not paying minimum wage (20 February 2024)
National Minimum Wage Naming Scheme: Round 20, February 2024: Educational Bulletin: Salary Sacrifice.
For further information on your obligations and calculations in respect of the NMW, please contact our team via hello@starfordlegalhr.com