A Bolton law firm has been named as one of 200 employers who failed to pay their lowest-paid staff the minimum wage.
The Department for Business and Trade today published a list of employers including WH Smith, M&S and Argos who did not pay the statutory minimum wage.
Also in the list is Lex Legal (UK) Ltd, which allegedly failed to pay 10 workers the minimum wage.
Lex Legal was founded by Ayub Patel in 2012 and specialises in conveyancing, immigration, wills and probate and personal injury. It has grown to a team of more than 50 and says it has established itself as the ‘practice of choice for the local business community in and around the Bolton area’.
Patel told the Gazette that the issue arose around four years ago when apprentices' wages were not automatically increased after their first two years' employment. This was a payroll error by an external provider and all the monies have been paid back in full.
The firm is regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. The solicitors’ code of conduct states that firms must have effective governance structures, arrangements, systems and controls in place to ensure compliance with all regulatory and legislative requirements.
In total, the government named 202 businesses for failing to pay the minimum wage to workers. Employers were ordered to repay workers and face penalties of nearly £7m after breaches left a total of 63,000 people out of pocket.
All the businesses named in the latest list have paid back what they owe to staff and have also faced financial penalties.
The minimum wage rose by 9.7% in April and is now £10.42 an hour for people aged 23 and over, £10.18 for 21- to 22-year-olds, £7.49 for 18- to 20-year-olds, and £5.28 for people under 18 and apprentices.
