A BARROW hotel has been named and shamed by the government for failing to pay staff the national minimum wage.

Some 92 employers who have failed to pay their workers the National Minimum Wage have been revealed today by Business Minister Nick Boles.


Abbey House Hotel They include Abbey House Hotel in Abbey Road, Barrow. Abbey House (Cumbria) Ltd, trading as Abbey House Hotel, Barrow, failed to pay £13,468.47 to 13 employees, which works out at an average of just over £1,000 each.

The government said all cases, including that of Abbey House Hotel, was thoroughly investigated by HM Revenue and Customs.

On 1 October 2015, the National Minimum Wage (NMW) rose to £6.70. In April the government is set to introduce a new National Living Wage which will mean a pay rise of over £900-a-year for someone working full time on the minimum wage.

The government's policy of naming and shaming firms which fail to comply with minimum wage rules was revised in October 2013 to make it easier for them to be identified.

In a statement, Abbey House Hotel bosses said the underpayment had been "a mistake" and apologised to any members of staff who had been affected.

Finance director Neil Hopkins-Coman said: “In our case we had mistakenly handled a number of shared property cost deductions for a small number of employees where rental costs were paid by the company.
BUSINESS General Manager John Horton from Abbey House Hotel

"We also had a very small number of salaried employees who had worked long hours in our busy kitchens and as a result had been underpaid when looking at the minimum wage legislation. We unreservedly apologise for these mistakes and have made good the under payments to the employees/former employees concerned.”

Mr Horton, general manager at the hotel, added: “I suspect a number of other businesses in the hospitality and leisure sector may fall foul of these deductions so I urge similar businesses to carry out internal checks. In our case we have changed our systems and procedures for future payments.”