6 days ago
Dumfries and Galloway firms named and shamed for not paying the minimum wage
Staff were left more than £15,000 out of pocket – and are now set to be repaid if they haven't already received what they are owed.
Four Dumfries and Galloway businesses have been named and shamed for not paying the minimum wage.
Staff were left more than £15,000 out of pocket – and are now set to be repaid if they haven't already received what they are owed.
The Department for Business and Trade released a list of more than 500 firms across the UK which underpaid workers, with more than 40 of them Scotland.
They were found to have paid staff either below the national minimum wage or the national living wage, which is what the government calls the minimum wage for those aged over 21.
Investigations by HMRC found Dumfries-based Esen Tyres underpaid five workers a total of £8,513.17 between October 2018 and January 2020. Companies House shows the firm has now been dissolved.
One worker at Zara Continental Hotel and Restaurant in Langholm was owed more than £4,000 for work between February 2018 and February 2019.
Calmac Developments Limited owed 17 workers a total of £2,583.77 for shifts at a Nisa store in Dumfries between April 2020 and June 2021.
And Legacy Resorts Ltd owed one worker at Three Lochs Holiday Park near Kirkcowan £536.69 for work between December 2019 and June 2021.
The national living wage was £11.44 in the year to the end of March, and has risen to £12.21 since April.
The minimum wage for 18-20-year-olds rose to £10 this year, and for those aged under 18 it rose to £7.55.
Justin Madders, the minister for employment rights, said: 'There is no excuse for employers to undercut their workers, and we will continue to name companies who break the law and don't pay their employees what they are owed.'
The government said that not all minimum wage underpayments are intentional, but those who do not pay staff correctly will be penalised.
