PR Pay Scandal: Companies Named and Shamed For Paying Staff Unfairly

No business wants to be at the heart of a PR scandal, particularly when it involves something as shameful as not paying their staff correctly. But that’s where almost a hundred and eighty companies found themselves earlier this year. Investigations found that employees had been short changed in areas such as not being paid for travelling between jobs, not being paid overtime, and having money deducted for uniforms. Failing to meet the national living wage which increases each April is also to blame. Read on to find out more.

What companies were involved?

A hundred and seventy nine companies were ‘named and shamed’ and are listed in this article by The Mirror newspaper. Amongst them are extremely well known brands such as Wagamama, TGI Fridays, Marriott and even the National Society For Epilepsy. It included organisations from fisheries to to care homes, sports clubs, hotels and more. There were well known chains to smaller, independent businesses with the underpayments ranging from a hundred, to hundreds of thousands. The fact that some of these are so well known caused a huge scandal, people can’t help but question- when a business is earning so much money, what gives them the right to short change the people that are making it work? In many cases, these are minimum wage workers that are already struggling.

What was done about it?

Of course, each company had to pay the money they owed to their employees. On top of this, they were fined up to two hundred percent of the wages owed. According to business minister Andrew Griffiths, it serves as a sharp reminder to employers to get their house in order ahead of minimum wage rate rises. He stated ‘this is an absolute red line for this Government, and employers who cross it will get caught.’ It’s believed that workers at outsourcing companies, franchises and recruitment agencies are particularly vulnerable to being cheated out of money they’re owed, because they cannot challenge their parent employer if they do not receive their legal entitlements.

How can I avoid this in my own company?

It’s important to learn from the mistakes that were made to avoid this happening in your own company. If you read through the responses from the companies, it’s clear that they weren’t trying to cheat their workers- it was more of a case of negligence where certain procedures were not’ followed properly. But that doesn’t make them look any more favourable. Make sure that you’re up to date on the law, and are paying employees the correct amount. A good payroll service can ensure that nothing is missed. You’ll need to hire experienced tax accountants to deal with your returns, and bear in mind things like the gender pay gap and equal pay.

Being at the heart of a PR scandal can be disastrous for any business. Make sure that you’re following the rules when it comes to paying your staff, or it could be your company up there on the shame list next time.

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