Nearly 200 employers in the UK who failed to pay their workers the National Minimum Wage have been publicly named and shamed, including six recruitment agencies.

The 197 companies named owed a total of £465,291 in debts, across a range of employers including recruitment agencies, football clubs, hotels, care homes and hairdressers. All of the money owed to these workers has been paid back to them.

The list comes after the new National Living Wage was introduced in April 2016, requiring employers to pay at least £7.20 an hour to employees aged 25 and over.

The recruitment agencies listed include:

• Premier Recruitment Ltd, Derby, owed £34,797.33 to 424 workers
• RD Resourcing, Eastleigh, Hampshire, who owed £14,350 to 122 workers; 
• Topstaff Employment, Glasgow, who owed £3,355 to 20 workers; 
• Betterstaff Industrial & Commercial Recruitment, Sidcup, Kent, who owed £2,441 to 23 workers; 
• Contact Industrial Recruitment Ltd, Urmston, Manchester, who owed £378 to 64 workers; 
• The Personnel People, Norwich, who owed £298 to 15 workers.

Among the list, three are listed as members of the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC), Topstaff Employment, Betterstaff and Contact Industrial Recruitment.

All six companies were contacted by Staffing Industry Analysts for comment and two responded before our publishing deadline.

Sophie Sawford, Senior Recruitment Consultant at Premier Recruitment disclosed that the underpayment related to a transport scheme that took temporary workers to their assignments. She said:

“All of our temporary workers were given the option of utilising this service, and they found the most convenient method was having a nominal payment deducted from their wages on a weekly basis. The choice was always that of the workers. These charges were shown as a bona fide expense on payslips and all workers gave their written permission before any deductions were made. PRD has since been advised that this method of charging for transport was not compliant with NMW regulations, as in some cases, it was bringing workers take home pay, below the National Minimum Wage.  Transport is an optional facility that PRD decided to implement due to the locations of some of our clients sites.  We used this as an opportunity to offer wider work prospects to those who may not have otherwise had the means to attend work that was not local to them.  Also, due to some unsociable work hours, we endeavoured to provide a safe, convenient and reliable mode of transport for our staff.  Had we not have provided transport for our temporary workers, they would have had to finance their own travel via public services etc.  Due to this, we did not realise that this was contravening the HMRC’s wage policy. Our intention was never to underpay our staff.”

“PRD has also been working closely with the HMRC to rectify the situation. All workers who have been successfully contacted have been fully reimbursed between the periods of 2012 to 2014, and the case is now closed.”  

“This has been a costly mistake that we won’t be repeating.  We are now continuously working with official organisations to keep us on top of changing legislations and employment law.”

Carole Connor, Director of RD Resourcing, told Staffing Industry Analysts:

"RD Resourcing was sold to new owners in February 2016. The issues raised by HMRC relate to an administration error in deductions applied to employees’ earnings prior to the inspection held in March 2015. All the staff members affected were contacted and the error was rectified at the time. Since its acquisition the new owner has invested heavily both in IT and staff at RD Resourcing with the aim of ensuring the highest operational and ethical standards."

REC Head of Policy Kate Shoesmith told Staffing Industry Analysts:

“Enforcement of the National Minimum Wage is absolutely critical to protect the interests of compliant businesses as well as individual workers.  We are aware that three of the businesses named by HMRC this week are recruitment agencies in REC membership. In line with our compliance process we are contacting those agencies about their appearance on this list. We take professional standards very seriously and our dedicated team investigates any alleged breach of the law or our code of conduct by members. If issues are serious and not resolved following our initial intervention, member agencies must answer to our professional standards committee who are able to issue sanctions including public reprimand or even expulsion from REC membership.”

 Business Minister Margot James said:

“This government is determined to build an economy that works for everyone, not just the privileged few. That means making sure everyone gets paid the wages they are owed – including our new, higher, National Living Wage. It is not acceptable that some employers fail to pay at least the minimum wage their workers are entitled to. So we’ll continue to crack down on those who ignore the law, including by naming and shaming them.”

“It is an employer’s responsibility to be aware of the different minimum wage rates depending on the circumstances of their workers – and to make sure all eligible workers are paid at least the minimum rate they are entitled to,” James said. “The National Living Wage will be enforced equally robustly alongside the National Minimum Wage.”