New scams are being used by firms to avoid paying a quarter of a million UK workers the legal minimum wage.
That is the estimate by the Trade Union Congress, which wants tougher penalties for those who flout the law.
Methods used to avoid paying the national minimum wage include charging for uniforms, clocking off cafe workers when there are no customers, and misusing interns, according to a new TUC report.
The research also found that a minority of employers were under-recording workers’ hours, not paying for travel between work sites, or “vanishing” to avoid paying fines, only to reappear under a different name.
Apprentices were most likely to be underpaid, with suggestions that 120,000 were not receiving the proper rate.
TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said: “Failing to pay the minimum wage is an antisocial act that squeezes those workers who have the least. There should be no hiding place for cheapskate bosses who try to cheat their workers out of the minimum wage.”
He called for more enforcement officers to be hired, naming and shaming of all non-payers, and an increase in the maximum fine from £5,000 to £75,000.
The Low Pay Commission, an independent body that advises the government on minimum wage rates, estimates that about 1.3m jobs pay the minimum wage, which ranges from £6.50 an hour for adult workers to £2.73 for apprentices aged 16 to 18.
