Here are some Scots firms 'named and shamed' for minimum wage breaches

The breaches by the 22 companies took place between 2013 and 2018. A total of £31,000 was found to be owed to 209 workers after investigations by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs. The businesses have been made to pay back what they owe, and were fined an additional £46,000.

For the UK as a whole, a total of £2.1 million was found to be owed to more than 34,000 workers by 191 employers, including major household names. John Lewis, for example, was found to have failed to pay more than £940,000 to nearly 20,000 workers

Among the companies in Scotland named are J Ren Ltd, trading as Mooboo, a bubble tea shop in Glasgow’s St Enoch Shopping Centre. It owed £3,114 to 24 workers between 2014 and 2017.

Several hairdressers in Scotland feature on the list (file image). Picture: Getty Images/iStockphoto.

John Condona’s Pleasure Fairs Limited, which runs Codona’s Amusement Park in Aberdeen, owed more than £1,318 to 90 workers between March and November 2017.

Harbour Havens Limited, which trades as Kildonan Hotel on the Isle of Arran, was named for racking up £2,478 in arrears to four workers between 2014 and 2017.

Also named were Rainbow Rooms International hairdressers in Glasgow, South Ayrshire and East Dunbartonshire, owned by Brittain & McMail Limited, Riccardo Corvi, Janine McMahon, and Fleeson & Robb Limited.

Other Scottish names on the list were Hair By JFK Limited in Edinburgh, which failed to pay £2,609 to two workers, and Pacson Limited in Dundee which had underpaid three workers by £1,607. Borders Automobile Company Limited, trading as Border Motor Group, failed to pay £1,429 to seven workers.

The Department for Business said minimum wage breaches can occur when workers being paid on or just above the minimum wage have deductions from their pay for uniform or accommodation.

Other breaches can involve paying the incorrect apprenticeship rate or failing to pay workers for all the time they had worked, such as overtime.

Obligation

Business minister Paul Scully said: “Scottish employers can’t take their eye off the ball when it comes to upholding workers’ rights.

“There is never an excuse to short-change workers and paying the minimum wage isn’t optional.

“It’s up to all employers in Scotland, including those on this list, to check government guidance and pay workers properly.”

Chairman of the Low Pay Commission Bryan Sanderson said: “These are very difficult times for all workers, particularly those on low pay who are often undertaking critical tasks in a variety of key sectors including care.

“The minimum wage provides a crucial level of support and compliance is essential for the benefit of both the recipients and our society as a whole.”

The UK government increased the National Living Wage and National Minimum Wage rates in April 2021, with every single UK worker entitled to the latter, no matter their age or profession. It is also being stressed that it has always been the responsibility of all employers to abide by the law.

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