{"id":14772,"date":"2018-03-09T16:08:11","date_gmt":"2018-03-09T16:08:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=14772"},"modified":"2020-11-12T12:59:06","modified_gmt":"2020-11-12T12:59:06","slug":"minimum-wage-name-shame","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=14772","title":{"rendered":"Minimum wage ‘name and shame’"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

The usual suspects in retail and hospitality topped the government\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s latest list of bosses \u00e2\u20ac\u0098named and shamed\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 for failing to pay the minimum wage<\/a> to its workers.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Household names such as Wagamama, Marriott Hotels and Stoke City and Birmingham City football clubs were included in a list that totalled 179 employers owing 9,200 workers more than \u00c2\u01411m altogether.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

High on the list in third place was TGI Fridays, an American-based chain restaurant, which has recently come under fire from Unite for its new tipping policy<\/a> which swipes 40 per cent of waiters\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 card tips.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The policy was decided without consultation with the waiters who depend on tips to survive as they eke out a living on the minimum wage of \u00c2\u01417.50 an hour.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Now, TGI Fridays has been found to not even be paying some of its workers this legally mandated minimum wage. According to the government list, the chain restaurant was forced to fork over nearly \u00c2\u014160,000 to 2,302 workers for making them buy shoes that were part of their uniform.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The news prompted Unite regional officer Dave Turnbull to say that \u00e2\u20ac\u015bsomething is going very badly wrong at TGI Fridays.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThey used to be a model employer when it came to handling tips, but not anymore,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bNow it seems they are also a law breaker when it comes to minimum wage infringments. We’re urging the company to re-discover their business ethics and work with Unite to put things right.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The worst offender in the government \u00e2\u20ac\u0098name and shame\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 list was chain restaurant Wagamama, which owed \u00c2\u0141133,212 to 2,630 workers. Like TGI Fridays, Wagamama breached minimum wage rules after forcing its workers to pay for uniforms.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Marriot Hotels, the second worst offender, owed \u00c2\u014171,723 to 279 workers \u00e2\u20ac\u201c the hotel chain said in a statement that the minimum wage breach came from deducting money for live-in accommodation and late-night taxis from wages.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Hazelwood House, a bed and breakfast in Devon, owed the greatest amount per worker \u00e2\u20ac\u201c according to the list, three workers were owed nearly \u00c2\u014150,000 between them.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Employers on the list were forced to compensate their workers in addition to having to pay \u00c2\u01411.3m in fines to the government.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Minimum wage rate rise<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The Low Pay Commission welcomed the publication of the list today (March 9) ahead of a minimum wage rate rise next month to \u00c2\u01417.83 an hour.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bAs the National Living Wage and National Minimum Wage rates rise on 1 April, it is vital that workers understand their rights, and employers their obligation,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Low Pay Commission chairman Bryan Sanderson said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe Low Pay Commission is pleased to see the Government maintaining the momentum of its minimum wage enforcement,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he added.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe recent announcement that all workers will have a right to payslips stating the hours they have worked \u00e2\u20ac\u201c an idea originally proposed by the LPC \u00e2\u20ac\u201c is a positive step.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Name and shame list ‘not enough’<\/strong><\/h2>\n

But Unite has warned that while a \u00e2\u20ac\u0098name and shame\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 list can be helpful, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not enough to force bosses to pay their due.<\/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 said Unite assistant general secretary Steve Turner.<\/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

Turner said the list is \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 added.<\/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","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The usual suspects in retail and hospitality topped the government\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s latest list of bosses \u00e2\u20ac\u0098named and shamed\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 for failing to pay the minimum wage to its workers.   Household names such as Wagamama, Marriott Hotels and Stoke City and Birmingham City football clubs were included in a list that totalled 179 employers owing 9,200 workers […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9430,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17],"tags":[215],"wps_subtitle":"Wagamama and TGI Fridays among employers on new list","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14772"}],"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\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14772"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14772\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26341,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14772\/revisions\/26341"}],"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=14772"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14772"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14772"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}