OBE couple's hairdressing company failed to pay minimum wage
- Published
Linda and Alan Stewart founded the Rainbow Room International franchise
A couple made OBEs in the New Year Honours list are directors of a hairdressing business which failed to pay workers the minimum wage, an investigation by HMRC has found.
Alan and Linda Stewart founded Rainbow Room International, which has 12 salons in Glasgow and central Scotland.
It was among 140 companies investigated, external - including St Johnstone FC - who failed to pay £6.7m to 95,000 workers.
The minimum wage is £4.15 an hour for apprentices, up to £8.72 for over-25s.
The Rainbow Room in Glasgow's Royal Exchange Square failed to pay £851.70 to six workers between 2016 and 2018.
HMRC's investigation also found Clare McFarlane and Suzanne McGill - who were trading as Rainbow Room International, South Lanarkshire - failed to pay £1,304.77 to 16 workers.
Meanwhile, Rainbow Room (East Kilbride) Limited, failed to pay £2,378.77 to 15 workers
And William Fleeson, trading as Rainbow Room International, Stirling, failed to pay £2,089.66 to 11 workers.
No action taken
A Rainbow Room spokeswoman declined to comment.
A spokesman for the Cabinet Office said the companies named on the list were franchises and not directly managed by Alan and Linda Stewart.
He added that no issues were raised with the couple directly and no action was required from them personally.
Another 12 Scottish businesses were among those "named and shamed" by the UK government.
All of them have paid back the arrears after being investigated.
St Johnstone FC owed £14,266.74 to 28 workers, 25 of whom were apprentice footballers.
St Johnstone were found to be underpaying some staff between 2016 and 2018
A spokesman for the Scottish Premiership club said: "The hours of work undertaken by our apprentices was fully reviewed and changes were implemented immediately following HMRC's outcome.
"The perceived failure to pay three other employees the national minimum wage related to voluntary deductions from pay by these employees.
"The club prides itself in treating our staff fairly and we are extremely disappointed to find ourselves in a position whereby we are criticised for failing to meet national minimum wage requirements."
All the named companies were served a notice of underpayment between September 2016 and July 2018.
They have been ordered to pay back the wage arrears to workers at the current rate, as well as facing fines of up to 200% of money owed- capped at £10,000 per worker.
The UK government's business minister Paul Scully said naming employers for failing to pay the minimum wage should be a "wake-up call" to rogue bosses.
'Not optional'
Mr Scully said: "Paying the minimum wage is not optional, it is the law. It is never acceptable for any employer to short-change their workers.
"Make no mistake, those who fail to follow minimum wage rules will be caught out and made to pay up."
The government explained that one of the main causes of minimum wage breaches was low-paid employees being made to cover work costs, such as paying for uniform, training or parking fees.
Other employers also failed to raise employees' pay after they had a birthday which should have moved them into a different National Minimum Wage bracket.