Several football clubs ‘named and shamed’ for failing to pay staff minimum wage

Thousands of workers are set to receive backpay

A record 22,400 employees will receive a total of £1.44m in backpay after 239 employers were found to have been underpaying their staff, according to a government report. There are several professional football clubs on the list of guilty employers: Port Vale, Doncaster Rovers, Bristol City, Dundee and Northampton Town. The Low Pay Commission has found that main causes of staff being underpaid are employers taking deductions from wages for uniforms, underpaying apprentices, failing to pay travel time, misusing the accommodation offset and using the wrong periods of time to calculate pay. The current minimum wage for over 25s is £7.83 an hour. Bristol City failed to pay £14,342.73 to 50 workers, with average arrears of £286.85 per worker. Business Minister Andrew Griffiths said: "Our priority is making sure workers know their rights and are getting the pay they worked hard for. Employers who don’t do the right thing face fines as well as being hit with the bill for backpay."

"The UK’s lowest paid workers have had the fastest wage growth in 20 years thanks to the introduction of the National Living Wage and today’s list serves as a reminder to all employers to check they are getting their workers’ pay right."

Low Pay Commission Chairman Bryan Sanderson said: "It is crucial that employers understand their responsibilities and workers know their rights around the minimum wage. That is why active enforcement and effective communication from Government is so important."

"It is therefore encouraging to see that HMRC has recovered unpaid wages for the largest number of workers yet in this round of naming and shaming. I’m confident that the Government will continue to pursue underpayment of the minimum wage vigorously."

The top ten worst offenders with regard to underpaying staff are:

• Sportswift Limited, trading as Card Factory, Wakefield WF2, failed to pay £430,097.87 to 10,256 workers, with average arrears of £41.94 per worker.
• T.J. Morris Limited, trading as Home Bargains, Liverpool L11, failed to pay £272,228.44 to 6,743 workers, with average arrears of £40.37 per worker.
• John Stanley’s Care Agency Limited, Tendring CO7, failed to pay £60,056.80 to 91 workers, with average arrears of £659.96 per worker.
• Fosse Healthcare Limited, Leicester LE4, failed to pay £50,170.06 to 185 workers, with average arrears of £271.19 per worker
• ASAP 24/7 Ltd, Newcastle-under-Lyme ST5, failed to pay £41,166.31 to 74 workers, with average arrears of £556.30 per worker.
• Methodist Guild Holidays Limited, trading as Christian Guild, Derbyshire Dales DE4, failed to pay £29,255.09 to 136 workers, with average arrears of £215.11 per worker.
• AM 2 PM Recruitment Solutions (Birmingham) Limited, Birmingham B72, failed to pay £22,919.12 to 2,057 workers, with average arrears of £11.14 per worker.