{"id":13059,"date":"2017-08-17T15:23:41","date_gmt":"2017-08-17T14:23:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=13059"},"modified":"2017-08-18T14:48:26","modified_gmt":"2017-08-18T13:48:26","slug":"name-and-shame","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=13059","title":{"rendered":"‘Name and shame’"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

Argos has topped the list of companies failing to pay their workers the minimum wage, owing nearly \u00c2\u01411.5m in back pay to 12,000 workers, as the government last night (August 16) released its latest \u00e2\u20ac\u0098name and shame\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 list<\/a> of underpaying employers.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The list includes more than 200 businesses owing about \u00c2\u01412m to more than 13,000 employees. The government has also fined companies a record \u00c2\u01411.9m.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Of the companies on the list, those that were the most prolific offenders were companies in retail, hairdressing and the hospitality industries.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

While Argos was by far the largest company on the list of companies illegally paying below the minimum wage, owing each of the thousands of underpaid employees about \u00c2\u014164, other smaller businesses owed fewer workers large payments.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

For example, a Chinese takeaway in Northern Ireland, Vongs Hot Food Bar, owed one worker nearly \u00c2\u014120,000.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Common errors employers made as they underpaid their workers included incorrectly paying the apprentice rate \u00e2\u20ac\u201c which is much lower than the adult minimum wage rate of \u00c2\u01417.50 an hour \u00e2\u20ac\u201c deducting money from employees\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 pay packets to pay for their uniforms, and failure to properly include overtime hours.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Race to the bottom<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Argos fell afoul of minimum wage laws when workers were called into morning meetings before their shifts and kept after work to undergo security searches \u00e2\u20ac\u201c time for which they were not paid.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Argos being forced to pay their workers back pay comes as the retailer, owned by Sainsbury\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s, is embroiled in a dispute with Unite at its distribution centres. Striking members are asking that they be given guarantees over the safeguarding of their terms and conditions.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

They began a three-week strike on Tuesday<\/a> (August 15) over the failure of the company to negotiate a national agreement covering redundancy and severance packages.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unite believes that Argos\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 underpayment of retail workers and its treatment of workers at distribution centres is inextricably linked \u00e2\u20ac\u201c both involve a race to the bottom for workers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 pay, terms and conditions.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unite national officer Matt Draper appeared on BBC\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s The One Show<\/em><\/a> last night (August 16), commenting on Argos failure to pay their workers the minimum wage.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt disgusts me when I find out that there’s been a failure by a large company to pay the minimum wage,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bYet they never fail to pay the CEO and the main directors their astronomical wages.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWhilst the minimum wage is not being paid, there are people living on the breadline,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he added. \u00c2\u00a0\u00e2\u20ac\u015bLet’s be realistic — the minimum wage is set for a reason.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Crackdown <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Unite assistant general secretary Steve Turner argued that more must be done to ensure that bosses pay the minimum wage.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe government needs to crack down further on employers who failed to pay the national minimum wage to some of the most low-paid and vulnerable workers in the country,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIn America, bad bosses are jailed and heavily fined for \u00e2\u20ac\u0098wage theft\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 which is what this is, exploiting workers in such a shameful fashion.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe fact that such a large company like Argos is on the list is appalling,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he added. \u00c2\u00a0\u00e2\u20ac\u015bSainsbury\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s, the retailer\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s owner, is a major company with a large HR department \u00e2\u20ac\u201c how could this possibly have been allowed to happen?\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Turner agreed with Draper that underpayment never happens for those at the high end of the pay hierarchy at any company.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIf top executives with mega pay packets weren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t getting their bonuses paid on time, all hell would break loose,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Turner believes that the government\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s \u00e2\u20ac\u0098name and shame\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 list can be helpful but highlighted that it was \u00e2\u20ac\u015bonly a small step in the right direction and much more is needed.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bTo address growing levels of poverty a genuine living wage must be introduced, sector level collective bargaining introduced and stronger, more effective enforcement funded,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThis would mean proper resources for the agencies responsible for enforcement and the cuts they have suffered in recent years to be reversed.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Turner also noted that Unite believes the government\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s national minimum wage, currently \u00c2\u01417.50 an hour, is \u00e2\u20ac\u015binadequate and pathetically low\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 and added that it is \u00e2\u20ac\u015bleading to obscene levels of growing poverty in our communities.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bUnite strongly supports a minimum living wage of at least \u00c2\u014110 an hour.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Argos has topped the list of companies failing to pay their workers the minimum wage, owing nearly \u00c2\u01411.5m in back pay to 12,000 workers, as the government last night (August 16) released its latest \u00e2\u20ac\u0098name and shame\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 list of underpaying employers.   The list includes more than 200 businesses owing about \u00c2\u01412m to more than […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9430,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[663,215],"wps_subtitle":"Underpaying bosses exposed","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13059"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13059"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13059\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13060,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13059\/revisions\/13060"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9430"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13059"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13059"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13059"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}