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The government has handed over four contracts to companies that have previously disclosed that they are not paying the minimum wage. I can reveal.
Firms contracted by the government to provide services such as dispatched workers and repairing major infrastructure were “named and humiliated” on lists of firms that did not pay their employees the minimum wage.
At least a dozen contracts worth millions of pounds have been signed with companies suspected of breaking minimum wage laws, according to a government minister’s statement in response to a Labor Party parliamentary question.
Four companies were awarded after being listed, and the remaining eight had unknown contract dates.
The list, last published in December 2021 under the Boris Johnson administration, included more than 200 companies.
The companies listed have been found to be in violation by HMRC for wages of docking staff below the minimum wage, unpaid working hours including compulsory training and trial shifts, and failure to pay apprentices the correct wages. I was.
The government said in February that all investigations by HMRC into designated businesses had been completed and that none were known to have violated the minimum wage law.
Technology Minister Paul Sculley, who was the Minister of Business at the time of the announcement, compared business to “Scrooge” and said businesses should know better.
Mitie, who was found to have failed to pay £17,893 to 91 workers in 2021, signed a contract with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) to repair the infrastructure a year later. The company is a licensed government contractor and on the London Stock Exchange he is worth over £1 billion.
Mitie’s inclusion on the 2021 list isn’t the first time he has been summoned by the government, having previously been listed in 2016 for a low wage of over £1,000 for one employee.
Hays Recruitment, which found 450 workers underpaid in 2021, has regular contracts with the government, including one with the Ministry of Health earlier this year. Hays regularly provides temporary or deputy government employees. The company provided personnel for the test and trace scheme during the Covid pandemic.
It was discovered by HMRC that Carolgas, which received a government contract from the Ministry of Defense shortly after being embarrassed by the government, had mistakenly cut the wages of eight employees.
Integrated Water Services, a subsidiary of South Staffs Water, won the contract from Defra less than a year after it was exposed to the government for violating minimum wage requirements for five workers.
Asking parliament about the company, Labor MP Justin Madders said: I The government then undermined its prestige and shameful schemes by awarding contracts to companies.
Mr Madders said: Ministers have launched their own poorly “name and disgrace” scheme by rewarding companies found to be illegally underpaying workers with lucrative contracts to hand over taxpayer money. is ridiculing ”
A Hays Recruitment spokesperson said: Mismanagement.
“In 2018 this issue was fixed as soon as it was identified and the workers were quickly reimbursed and satisfied that the issue was resolved. Introduced an additional check to ensure that changes are applied immediately.”
A Mitie spokesperson said: “HMRC acknowledged at the time that this was an ‘accidental and technical’ infringement and has taken steps to prevent a recurrence.”
A government spokesperson said:
We also reached out to South Staffordshire Water and Calor Gas for comment.