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Chinese failed to pay staff member £18,500, investigation finds

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A Chinese takeaway in Banbridge failed to pay one staff member more than £18,500 following a Government investigation.

A review into businesses not paying a national minimum wage or a living wage found that Vong’s Hot Food Bar was one of the worst offenders in the UK – ranking fifth.

More than 13,000 low paid workers will be handed around £2 million in back pay following the extensive enquiry.

It identified 233 employers who had deprived staff of a full wage, with retail giant Argos emerging as the worst offender.

Argos had not paid 12,176 people who worked for the firm close to £1.5 million.

Business minister Margot James said: “It is against the law to pay workers less than legal minimum wage rates, short-changing ordinary working people and undercutting honest employers.

“Today’s naming round identifies a record £2 million of back pay for workers and sends the clear message to employers that the Government will come down hard on those who break the law.

“Common errors made by employers in this round included deducting money from pay packets to pay for uniforms, failure to account for overtime hours, and wrongly paying apprentice rates to workers.”

All the staff have now received their back pay.

The Government has fined 1,200 employers around £4 million and forced them to pay out £6 million to staff since 2013.

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