Recruiters ‘named and shamed’ in government’s list of national minimum wage offenders

Five recruitment agencies have been named by government in its largest-ever list of national minimum and living wage offenders.

This week, The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has named 360 businesses that underpaid 15,520 workers a total of £995,233. While HM Revenue & Customs managed to recover outstanding payments for these workers, it also issued penalties to offenders amounting to £800k.

The government’s latest list also includes employers who failed to pay eligible workers at least the new National Living Wage rate of £7.20 for workers aged 25 and over.

Employers in the hairdressing, hospitality and retail sectors were the most prolific offenders in this latest list but five recruitment agencies also featured.

These companies include:

  • WH Recruitment Ltd, Portadown BT62, failed to pay £26,418.67 to 143 workers.
  • Industria Personnel Services Ltd, Leicester LE1, failed to pay £14,377.34 to 1,837 workers
  • Engineering Recruitment Services Ltd trading, Middlesbrough TS3, failed to pay £857.64 to one worker
  • Wykeham Staff Services Limited, Spalding PE12, failed to pay £660.76 to 16 workers
  • Calibre Recruitment Limited trading as Calibre International, London WC2H, failed to pay £104.40 to one worker.

Explaining his agency’s appearance on the list, Lee McGee, director at Engineering Recruitment Services, told Recruiter the company had taken on an apprentice, who was paid an apprentice pay rate, but claimed the apprenticeship company the agency had been working with failed to inform the agency that the apprentice had now qualified. This meant for a period of six weeks the worker had been paid incorrectly. This was subsequently rectified.

Meanwhile Michael Walker, managing director at Industria Personnel Services, told Recruiter that its inclusion was down to a technical error in the agency’s systems back in 2015.

“All the underpayments were due to deductions from pay. Over three years, 1,837 individual cases where workers were underpaid on average by £8. 

“All underpayments have been repaid and Industria are fully compliant. With over 2,500 weekly paid employees, Industria Personnel Services take our obligations very seriously and remain fully committed to providing the best wages, opportunities and conditions for all our workers.” 

Recruiter contacted all of the other agencies on the list but they had not responded by deadline.

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