Named and shamed hoteliers speak out

Two Cornish hotel firms have spoken out in response to being listed in a HMRC ‘name and shame’ report exposing poor-paying employers.

The GM of Budock Vean Hotel Limited, Martin Barlow “failed” to pay £765.58 to one worker according to HMRC’s report, but Barlow claims his establishment’s listing was due to “unwieldy elements of the [National Minimum Wage] legislation”.

He said: “Budock Vean Hotel has never underpaid its staff, who are all paid the living wage, minimum wage, or above.”

He added: “HMRC has accepted that none of our staff was left out of pocket. Our inclusion in this list is due to a technicality relating to unwieldy elements of the NMW legislation, an old system of taking and repaying staff deposits for uniforms and keys for live-in accommodation, and our system of flexible working hours.”

Bedruthan Hotel Limited was also mentioned in the list, for “failing” to pay £14,215.61 to 22 workers.

A spokesman for the Newquay hotel said: “Red Hotels pays hourly pay rates above the national minimum wage for all employees, regardless of age. But the rules are complex and our falling foul of them related to technical underpayments rather than actual underpayments.

“In our case, some live-in employees requested services like meals to be taken directly from their wages. We did not realise that according to HMRC rules this technically took their pay below the national minimum wage, and meant employees should be reimbursed.

“Had the employees paid cash for those same services, the legislation would not have been breached. The arrangement was put in place to help our live-in staff at their request and we had checked the HMRC website but had misunderstood the correct way of handling payments.”

Has your hotel or restaurant been unfairly listed by HMRC’s report? If you are willing to speak to a Hotel Owner journalist, please call 020 3598 4630 or email newsdesk@hotelowner.co.uk