A NEWPORT company has been named for failing to pay £1,672 to three of its workers.

Burlesque Hair Company Limited in Newport is one of the businesses that has been named for underpaying workers.

More than 13,000 of the UK’s lowest paid workers will get around £2m in back pay as part of the UK government’s scheme to name employers who have failed to pay National Minimum Wage and Living Wage.

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy published a list of 233 businesses that underpaid workers. 

As well as paying back staff the money owed, employers on the list have been fined a record £1.9m by the government. Retail, hairdressing and hospitality businesses were among the most prolific offenders.

Since 2013, the scheme has identified £6m back pay for 40,000 workers, with 1,200 employers fined £4m. 

Secretary of State for Wales Alun Cairns said: “While most employers get it right, it is simply not acceptable that some employers in Wales are failing to pay at least the minimum wage their workers are entitled to.

“The UK Government is determined to make sure everybody in work receives a fair wage and to building an economy that works for all. April’s increase in the national minimum and living wage rates is putting more money into the pockets of Wales’ lowest paid workers than ever before.

“Excuses for not paying employees what they are legally owed will not be tolerated.”

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.”

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.