60 firms that failed to pay minimum wage pick up £3.4billion in public cash
Sixty firms which failed to pay the minimum wage received £3.36billion of public cash, it has emerged.
The companies – among 202 named and shamed by the Department for Business and Trade – have been paid for government contracts since 2016.
Highest earner was LloydsPharmacy, which underpaid 7,916 staff by £903,307.
It netted £2.47billion for in-hospital pharmacies, analysts Tussell found.
Logistics giant Kuehne+Nagel, which mispaid 173 staff, raked in £299million, and schools caterer Caterlink, which underpaid 61 staff, got £150,720,584.
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Loganair, which underpaid 43 staff, received £95,509,496, Tussell’s research showed. Other underpaying firms handed big deals included McNicholas Construction (£146.8million) and BNP Paribas Real Estate (£111million).
Labour MP Richard Burgon has voiced his outrage (Philip Coburn)We revealed last month how Argos, M&S and WHSmith were among firms fined £7million for falling foul of wages laws, in what the retailers said were honest mistakes. The errors, involving £5million in pay for 63,000 staff, were subsequently made right.
Labour MP Richard Burgon said: “Companies trousering billions from contracts while failing to abide by minimum wage laws makes a mockery of the Government’s claim to be supporting workers’ rights.”
LloydsPharmacy said staff were reimbursed after the unintentional underpayment came to light in 2019.
It said all staff are paid above the minimum wage – as did a spokesman for BNP Paribas.
Kier Group acquired McNicholas Construction after the under-payments error.
A spokesman said: “We took action to redress this matter. We remain committed to providing competitive salaries and excellent benefits for our people.”
A spokesperson for Loganair said: “Loganair’s inclusion in this list relates exclusively to an optional salary sacrifice programme operated more than four years ago which enabled employees to voluntarily increase their pension contributions or to purchase electric vehicles.
“In providing its employees with options as to how to spend their own income, the choices made by a small number of staff led to their take-home pay falling below the NMW at the time.
“This issue was rectified by Loganair and closed by HMRC in March 2019. The Department for Business & Trade, which administers the National Minimum Wage scheme, fully accepts this issue was raised and resolved more than four years ago so it is with great disappointment to see our inclusion in the list so long after the event.”
All firms named were contacted for comment.
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