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Article

23 Oct 2015

Author:
Rose Troup Buchanan, Independent

UK: Monsoon Accessorize named by HM Revenue & Customs as worst company for paying its staff new minimum wage

Monsoon Accessorize has been named as the worst British company for paying its staff the new minimum wage. The clothing and jewellery chain is among 115 companies that failed to pay their staff almost £389,000 in wages between them. Monsoon neglected to pay 1,438 workers £104,508 – making it the worst offender by far on the newly released list. The company claimed it had taken measures to address the shortfall by offering staff a discount on their clothing and jewellery, but this offer was deducted from workers’ wages – dropping them below the legal threshold. Monsoon, which was among the first British companies to sign up to the Ethical Trading Initiative to protect workers’ rights, claimed when the information came to light they changed their practises and raised staff wages accordingly. Wages in the retailer’s British stores were raised to £8.20 an hour last month.