Some of the UK’s best known retailers including WH Smith, Marks & Spencer, Argos and LloydsPharmacy are at the head of a list of more than 200 companies collectively fined 7m for failing to pay the legal minimum wage.
The businesses were also forced to pay out 4.9m to about 63,000 workers left out of pocket after violations of the rules were uncovered by inspectors at HMRC, varying from breaches related to asking workers to pay for aspects of their uniform to paying the incorrect apprenticeship rate.
The 200 companies included fashion brands, car washes, hotels and takeaway businesses.
The government said the decision showed that companies that did not pay staff properly would “face the consequences”.
The legal minimum wage for those aged 23 and over rose to 10.42 an hour in April, up from 9.50, with the absolute minimum hourly rate now 5.28, which applies to apprentices or under-18s.
WH Smith, which was at the top of the list of those that fell short on payments, was found to have owed 17,607 workers more than 1m, or 58 each.
The company said the mis-payment was identified as part of a 2019 review by HMRC, which found WH Smith, along with several other retailers, had misinterpreted how statutory wage regulations applied to uniform policy for store staff.
The group had asked workers to wear their own trousers, skirts or shoes in a specific colour, along with uniform it provided. WH Smith has paid them back an average 40 for money spent on the clothing items.
“This was...
stage at the Ninth Circuit, where pharmaceutical companies say a momentous new ruling "illustrates perfectly" the constitutional concerns of U. S. Supreme Court justices regarding FCA enforcement. ...