Pizza Hut criticised over wage error
Information released by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) shows that the company missed out on payments of £845,936 to 10,980 workers.
In response Pizza Hut said that there was 'never any intent to underpay its employees', explaining that 'several years ago the group was made aware by HMRC of an error relating to a historic uniform policy'.
A spokesman said: “In 2018 we completed a wage adjustment for current and former employees working closely with the HMRC to understand who was eligible . . . we are confident that the necessary processes have been fixed to ensure that this will not happen again.”
The 140 companies names on the list were fined regardless of whether the breach was intentional.
Several independent businesses within the hospitality sector were also cited on the list, which was released on 31 December.
The Government says the list was intended as 'a wake up call' for companies breaching the rules.
However, trade body UKHospitality says there are some elements of the reintroduction of the 'naming and shaming' that is unfair, unrepresentative and misleading.
“UKHospitality supports the national minimum wage for our sector’s valued workers and absolutely advocates that businesses uphold the law in this regard," says chief executive Kate Nicholls.
“The rules around NMW are constantly evolving and businesses strive to keep up and to avoid technical breaches.
"Previously unclear criteria led to some unintended technical breaches, which were willingly and promptly rectified.
"The latest list includes data going back several years, so many companies that acted to address breaches in good faith find themselves the victims of unfair reporting of a historical problem.
“Many firms that acted properly to comply have been suddenly and unfairly been thrown an unwarranted slur on their reputation for no good reason.
"Hospitality continues to take the harshest battering of any sector under Covid restrictions - to add to our woes unjustifiably and without warning is an unnecessary kick in the teeth that the sector does not deserve.”
