Halfords and Pizza Express among companies exposed for not paying minimum wage

“There is no excuse for employers to undercut their workers” – Minister for Employment Rights, Justin Madders

Several of the big companies represented on Chiswick High Road have had to pay their workers back pay after an investigation by HM Revenue and Customs found they had been paying their staff less than the minimum wage.

Halfords and Pizza Express are among the leading businesses named and shamed by the Government after the investigation between 2015 and 2022.

A total of 518 employers have had to pay more than 60,000 workers back pay worth £7.4m. The list of companies has only recently been released since the back payments have all been agreed. You can see the full list here: Department for Business & Trade

The investigation is part of the Government’s ‘Make Work Pay’ initiative. A statement from the Department for Business & Trade added:

‘As part of the Plan for Change, this Government’s priority is to grow the economy and raise living standards. A strong economy can only be built when people have financial security whilst in work and robust enforcement action will be taken against employers who do not pay their staff correctly.’

The companies involved faced financial penalties of up to 200% of their underpayment.

Minister for Employment Rights, Justin Madders said:

“There is no excuse for employers to undercut their workers, and we will continue to name companies who break the law and don’t pay their employees what they are owed.

“Ensuring workers have the support they need and making sure they receive a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work is a key commitment in our Plan for Change. This will put more money in working people’s pockets, helping to boost productivity and ending low pay.”

The biggest violator was Capita business services, who had to pay £1,154,462 to 5,543 workers. Capita works with Transport for London, managing the London Congestion Charging scheme and upgrading the IT systems for managing the Ultra Low Emissions Zone (ULEZ).

In local government they work in procurement, building regulation, planning and regeneration and ‘workforce development’. Their mission statement is: ‘to find and deliver achievable savings and efficiencies.’

A Capita spokesperson described the underpayments as ‘inadvertent’, adding:

“All owed monies were paid immediately, and we are sorry for any impact this had on colleagues and former colleagues at that time. Our processes and systems were updated to ensure there would be no further issues; we have continued to monitor them carefully, as well as any changes to employment regulations.”

BA, Hilton hotels, Wetherspoons,  and Lidl were also on the list, as was SB Rom Food Center Ltd in Hounslow.

Lidl have just announced a half a billion pound expansion, with 40 new stores planned in this financial year and hundreds of other potential locations listed for new stores including high streets, retail parks, and mixed-use town centre sites, across England, Scotland and Wales.

READ ALSO: Chiswick on Lidl’s ‘wish list’ to open a new store

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A PizzaExpress spokesperson commented:

“Once we were made aware of this historic unintentional technicality, which occurred between 2012-2018, we swiftly identified who was impacted, apologised and rectified. There’s nothing more important to us than fairly and accurately paying our team members.”