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Only six UK employers prosecuted for paying below minimum wage in six years

Exclusive: ‘Pathetic’ prosecution rate criticised, amid new findings government gave many firms furlough cash despite ‘naming and shaming’ them over minimum wage

By Adam Bychawski, Peter Geoghegan and Jenna Corderoy
Only six UK employers prosecuted for paying below minimum wage in six years
Just six employers prosecuted for underpaying employees, despite more than 6,500 violations | John Flemming / Alamy Stock Photo
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Just six employers have been prosecuted for paying employees less than the minimum wage in the past six years, despite tax authorities finding more than 6,500 violations.

An openDemocracy investigation also found that dozens of firms that were “named and shamed” by the UK government last year for failing to pay the minimum wage also collected millions in furlough payments.

Pizza Hut, Superdrug and Costco, as well as 136 other companies, were named as ‘rogue employers’ in the government’s most recent list, published in December 2020.

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Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0