M&S, WH Smith and Argos failed to pay minimum wage as 200 firms facing penalty of nearly £7m
WH Smith were names as the worst offenders
PA
More than 200 firms are facing penalties of nearly £7million and have been told to reimburse workers for breaches dating back over a decade.
His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) found that 63,000 workers were left out of pocket by the breaches to the tune of almost £5million, most of which occurred between 2017 and 2019.
M&S, WH Smith and Argos are amongst those British retailers that have been singled out by HMRC.
Kevin Hollinrake, Minister for Enterprise, Markets and Small Business, said: "Paying the legal minimum wage is non-negotiable and all businesses, whatever their size, should know better than to short-change hard-working staff.”
Marks & Spencer is slashing the prices of "household staples" including avocados, smoked salmon and ciabatta rollsPAWH Smith was found to be the worst offender, having failed to pay more than £1m to over 17,600 workers.
The retailer for news, books and convenience claimed the oversight occurred due to misinterpreted rules around uniforms, for the chain enforced a dress code of a specific colour without reimbursing staff for it.
A spokesperson for WH Smith said: "Following a review with HMRC in 2019, and in common with a number of retailers, it was brought to our attention that we had misinterpreted how the statutory wage regulations were applied to our uniform policy for staff working in our stores.
"This was a genuine error and it was rectified immediately with all colleagues reimbursed in 2019."
Sainsbury's acquired Argos in 2016
PA
The next worst offender was Lloyds Pharmacy, which failed to pay more than £903,000 to 7,916 workers.
The pharmacy chain permanently closed 237 of its branches in Sainsbury’s stores earlier this month, just seven years after purchasing the spaces for £125million.
The decision has put 2,000 jobs at risk in a sector that has struggled due to government funding cuts, soaring costs of medicine and high inflation dissuading spending.
M&S failed to pay £578,390.79 to 5,363 workers, though it attributes this to an "unintentional technical issue from over four years ago.”
Kevin Hollinrake (far left)
PA
An M&S spokesperson said: "This happened simply because temporary colleagues were not paid within the strict time periods specified in the National Minimum Wage regulations and was remedied as soon as we became aware of the issue.
"Our minimum hourly pay has never been below the national minimum wage, it is currently above it and no colleagues were ever underpaid because of this."
Sainsbury's, which owns Argos, was told to repay £480,093.58 to 10,399 workers but identified this underpayment as a payroll error acknowledged in 2018.
Sainsbury’s said the payroll error affected some Argos store workers and drivers dating back as far as 2012, before Sainsbury's acquisition of Argos.
The retailer said it had launched an immediate investigation and "put this right at the time".
It added: "Since then we have completed the integration of Argos onto Sainsbury's systems which will prevent this from happening again."
Marks & Spencer is slashing the prices of "household staples" including avocados, smoked salmon and ciabatta rolls in a bid to win over middle-class shoppers.
The supermarket is reducing the prices of 70 of its most popular items in a shift from raising prices to cutting them.
The National Living Wage and Minimum Wage rose by 9.7% this April.
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