THE WHAT? Chanel, Lloyds Pharmacy and Marks and Spencer are among the 202 employers that have been named by the UK government for failing to pay their lowest paid staff the minimum wage.

THE DETAILS Chanel owed a total of £70,413.59 to 2,590 workers for payroll errors between 2017 and 2019. The businesses named have compensated staff and faced financial penalties. The underpayment took multiple forms; some 39 percent deducted pay from workers’ wages, 30 percent failed to pay employees correctly for their working time and 21 percent paid the incorrect apprenticeship rate.

THE WHY? A spokesperson for Chanel told Yahoo! News that it had not understood that it had to take deductions at source into consideration when calculating staff hourly rates. Minister for Enterprise, Markets and Small Business Kevin Hollinrake said, “Paying the legal minimum wage is non-negotiable and all businesses, whatever their size, should know better than to short-change hard-working staff.

“Most businesses do the right thing and look after their employees, but we’re sending a clear message to the minority who ignore the law: pay your staff properly or you’ll face the consequences.”