Monsoon failed to pay the minimum wage to 1,438 staff, topping the government's name and shame list

High street retailer Monsoon Accessorize has topped the government’s name and shame list of companies who failed to pay the national minimum wage.

The firm, by far the largest on the list, neglected to pay £104,507.83 to 1,438 workers.

The top ten on the list were as follows:


To see the full list, visit the Gov.uk page.

Monsoon Accessorize says the issue in payment was discovered when tax authorities reviewed the payroll system, finding that the company had a policy of offering staff discounted clothes to wear at work, the cost of which was taken out of their wages, putting them below the legal threshold.

Business minister Nick Boles said:

Employers that fail to pay the minimum wage hurt the living standards of the lowest paid and their families.

Next April we will introduce a new National Living Wage which will mean a £900-a-year pay rise for someone working full time on the minimum wage and we will enforce this equally robustly.

TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady estimated that only around a quarter of offenders are being caught:

Today's list of offenders is only the tip of the iceberg.

I am particularly saddened to see Monsoon Accessorize acting in breach of the law.

A large firm with thousands of employees has no excuse for not having proper systems in place to ensure staff get their legal wages.

(HT BBC)

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