SEVERAL employers in Coventry have been named among a list of businesses who failed to pay their lowest paid staff the minimum wage, following investigations by His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) between 2017 and 2019.
Lloyds Pharmacy Limited, AAH Limited and Westbourne Leisure Limited, trading as The Strawberry Bank Hotel were listed among 199 other businesses and sole traders after breaching National Minimum Wage Law.
The 202 companies were found to have failed to pay their workers almost £5m combined, leaving around 63,000 workers out of pocket.
Lloyds Pharmacy Limited, Coventry, CV2, failed to pay £903,307.47 to 7,916 workers and AAH Ltd, Coventry, CV2, failed to pay £42,359.39 to 201 workers.
AAH Ltd were part of Lloyds Pharmacy during the investigation.
A spokesperson from Lloyds Pharmacy explained the underpayments made to staff at the pharmacy and AAH Ltd related to HMRC’s rules around company uniforms.
A spokesperson for Lloyds Pharmacy said: “LloydsPharmacy can confirm that this unintentional underpayment relates to an investigation by HMRC that was concluded in 2019, when it was part of McKesson UK.
“As soon as LloydsPharmacy was made aware of it we acted quickly to notify the affected colleagues and re-imburse them. We also updated our uniform policy to ensure it did not recur.”
“LloydsPharmacy can confirm all our employees are paid above the national minimum wage and would like to take this opportunity to reassure them of our commitment to fair and equitable pay.”
And Westbourne Leisure Ltd, trading as The Strawberry Bank Hotel, Coventry, CV7, failed to pay £1,513.44 to 31 workers.
The government chose to name the employers in a clear message that no employer is exempt from paying their workers the statutory minimum wage.
Minister for Enterprise, Markets and Small Business Kevin Hollinrake said: “Paying the legal minimum wage is non-negotiable and all businesses, whatever their size, should know better than to short-change hard-working staff.
“Most businesses do the right thing and look after their employees, but we’re sending a clear message to the minority who ignore the law: pay your staff properly or you’ll face the consequences.”
The businesses named in the list have since paid back what they owe to their staff and have also faced financial penalties.
The investigations show how 39 percent of the employers listed underpaid staff by deducting pay from their wages, 39 percent failed to pay workers correctly for their working time and 21 percent
paid the incorrect apprenticeship wage.
The report did note not all minimum wage underpayments are intentional.
One sole trader, Patrick Ginnelly, Nuneaton, CV11, failed to pay £502.37 to one worker.
Since 2015, due to minimum wage enforcement the government has ordered employers to repay over £100 million to 1 million workers.
Westbourne Leisure Limited have been approached for comment.
