A Perth hotel boss named and shamed as part of a government clampdown on companies not paying workers the minimum wage says he was “surprised” to see himself on the list.
Owen Boyle, of Perth Hotels Ltd, said he had no idea that ministers from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) had him in their sights when it released its hit list.
The UK Government identified 25 employers who owe workers more than £43,000 in arrears and have to pay financial penalties totalling over £21,000 between them.
Perth Hotels, which owns the city’s New County Hotel, “neglected to pay £556.80 to a worker”, according to BIS.
When questioned by The Courier over the publication, Mr Boyle said: “I had no mention of that, this is a surprise. I must find out more about it.”
A new set of tougher measures was introduced by the UK coalition last October.
As well as being publicly named and shamed, employers that fail to pay their workers the national minimum wage also face new penalties of up to £20,000, four times higher than before.
The Government also plans to legislate in the new parliamentary session so that employers can also be given penalties of up to £20,000 for each individual worker they have underpaid, rather than the maximum penalty applying to each employer.
This will mean if an employer underpays 10 workers, they could face penalties of up to £200,000.
Business Minister Jenny Willott said: “Paying less than the minimum wage is not only wrong, it’s illegal. If employers break the law they need to know they will face tough consequences.”
Also brought to task was Edinburgh’s Cargilfield boarding school, which failed to pay £3,739.58 to an employee.
TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said: “Employers caught in the act deserve to be fined and have their reputation ruined.”
Last year, HMRC collected some £34.6 million in arrears to 22,000 employees who had not been paid the minimum wage.