AN ANDOVER company which was named for failing to pay workers the minimum wage has said it was due to a 'minor technical infringement'.

Abacus Employment Services has been placed on a UK Government list of more than 500 employers for failing to pay its workers £94,668.40.

The job recruitment company has said it ‘took accountability and made things right’ after being ordered to repay workers the owed funds and pay an additional financial penalty of up to 200 per cent of its underpayment.

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Andover Advertiser:

On the list is 524 employers across the country which have been ordered to repay nearly £16m after breaches left more than 172,000 workers out of pocket.

The investigations by His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) were carried out between 2015 and 2023.

The list, which was published on February 20, comes as the National Living Wage is set to increase by 9.8 per cent to £11.44 an hour on April 1, as announced in the Government’s Autumn statement.

A spokesperson for Abacus Employment said: “In December 2017 Abacus received notification from the HM Revenue and Customs that we had been randomly selected for a national minimum wage (NMW) compliance audit review.

“During the audit a minor technical infringement regarding minimum wage laws, that would not be an issue today given changes to the legislation, was identified.

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“HMRC have acknowledged that this didn't involve deliberate underpayment, rather, it stemmed from a voluntary and subsidised employee transport perk. Which, through complex minimum wage calculation rules, led to inadvertent payroll issues.

“There was never any attempt to hide anything or deprive our temporary workers of the correct NMW. Once identified, we took accountability and made things right.

“We fully support the value of minimum wage laws and are pleased HMRC ensure compliance.”

The recruitment company was the only Andover employer named on the list, which can be viewed at gov.uk/government/news/over-500-companies-named-for-not-paying-minimum-wage.