Centrica and Holland & Barrett fined for underpaying employees

Centrica, which owns British Gas, was eighth on DBT’s listing having didn’t pay £167,815 to 356 staff.

A spokesperson for the corporate stated it supported honest pay and pointed to technical faults in its payroll system between 2015 and 2019.

“This issue relates to a small number of historic technical errors which was put right as soon as it was identified.

“The complete underpayment associated primarily to wage sacrifice preparations and coaching bonds, relatively than take dwelling pay, and was round £160,000 – our UK annual wage invoice is at the moment round £1.2bn.”

High Street retailer Holland & Barrett is next on the list after it failed to pay more than £153,000 to 2,551 workers.

In a statement, the company said past issues with minimum wage payments, between 2015 and 2021, had since been fixed in 2022.

“This was not a case of deliberate underpayment,” stated a spokesperson.

“The challenge stemmed from legacy practices equivalent to requiring staff members to put on particular footwear, unpaid coaching accomplished at dwelling, and time spent making ready for shifts at our Burton distribution web site.”

Holland & Barrett said it remained committed to fair pay and that it was paying store staff about 5% above the National Living Wage and follows all rules.

“While we respect the transparency of the scheme, we’re upset that naming has occurred over three years after the matter was settled,” the spokesperson stated.

The minimal wage for over-21s, identified formally because the National Living Wage, is at the moment £12.21 an hour. Younger staff – aged between 16 and 20 – are entitled to obtain the National Minimum Wage, which is ready at £10 an hour.