It has been revealed that 239 employers have underpaid 22,400 workers in the UK by £1.44 million. The government is set to spend £26.3 million in relation to funding for minimum wage enforcement in 2018-2019.
If an employer has been underpaying its employees, they must repay arrears of wages to the employees in question at the current minimum wage rate. The employers will also be subject to fines of up to 200% of arrears (which is capped at £20,000 per worker). As a result, fines of £1.97m have been issued.
Reasons for failure to meet minimum wage requirements include:
- Taking costs for uniforms out of wages
- Underpaying apprentices
- Failure to pay travel time
- Misusing the accommodation offset
- Using the wrong time periods to calculate pay
