A South Holland company has been named by the government for under-paying staff on minimum wage.
MRN Recrtuitment Ltd, of Spalding, was included in the list of 179 employers named for under-paying some employees.
But the company said it had taken advice, which led to a £2 administration charge for those needing writing or assistance with official forms. A total of 265 of its workers were involved.
“Over 12 months ago HMRC challenged the advice we had been given but also admitted that this was a “grey area” for which they themselves had to take further advice.
“As soon as it was found that these deductions should not have been made all amounts were immediately paid back to our workers with interest.
“At no time did we intentionally pay any worker below the national minimum wage (NMW) and we worked closely and in a timely manner with HMRC to resolve the issue,” said director Brendan Moran.
The government today (Friday, March 9) published a list of employers who were fined a total of £1.3m. It also recovered back-pay for the 9,200 people affected.
The move comes ahead of an increase for both the National Minimum Wage and the National Living Wage increase on April 1.
“Today’s naming round serves as a sharp reminder to employers to get their house in order ahead of minimum wage rate rises on April 1,” said Business Minister Andrew Griffiths.
The list included companies from restaurant chain Wagamama Ltd to the National Society for Epilepsy and Birmingham City Football Club.
