The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) has for the first time named a company violating national minimum wage law under a new scheme in place since the start of 2011.

Leicester hair and beauty salon owner Rita Patel, trading as Treena Professional Hair & Beauty, paid a worker £342, when they were entitled to £3,703.22 for their four-and-a-half months of work. The debt was enforced through the court.

Patel is the first employer named of 15 potential cases being referred to BIS since 1 January 2011. Cases must meet seven criteria in order to come to the point of being named, including among these seven the existence of evidence that the employer was deliberately acting to violate wage law and the employer delayed or obstructed the procedure of investigation of their payroll.

A BIS spokesperson also says that the department “takes the decision on whether it is in the public interest to name an employer, and factors that BIS considers include whether personal harm can come to the employer or a member of their family, whether there are any implications for national security and any specific circumstances which come to light after HMRC have referred the case to suggest that naming is not proportionate”.

Employment relations minister Norman Lamb says: “The law is clear. Any worker who is entitled to the minimum wage should receive it; that’s why we are committed to clamping down on those who break the law.”