SWINDON employers Marriott Hotels and Wagamama are among major firms named and shamed by the Government for underpaying minimum wage workers.

The Japanese-themed restaurant chain was said to have failed to pay £133,212 to 2,630 workers, the most of any of the businesses named.

Marriott failed to pay £71,723 to 279 workers, according to the figures released by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.

Wagamama has a restaurant at the Swindon Designer Outlet while the Marriott chain has a hotel in Pipers Way on the outskirts of Old Town. The locations of the workers affected was not included in the list released by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.

The brands were among nearly 180 employers identified for underpaying thousands of minimum wage workers by a total of £1.1million.

Backpay was recovered for 9,200 workers and the Government fined the emp0loyers a total of £1.3million for breaking national minimum wage laws. The list was published ahead of the National Living Wage rising from £7.50 to £7.83 an hour from April 1

Business Minister Andrew Griffiths said: “The world of work is changing and we have set out our plans to give millions of workers enhanced rights to ensure everyone is paid and treated fairly in the workplace.

“There are no excuses for short-changing workers. This is an absolute red line for this government and employers who cross it will get caught - not only are they forced to pay back every penny but they are also fined up to 200% of wages owed.

“Today’s naming round serves as a sharp reminder to employers to get their house in order ahead of minimum wage rate rises on April 1.”

Bryan Sanderson, Chairman of the Low Pay Commission (LPC), said:

“As the National Living Wage and National Minimum Wage rates rise on April 1, it is vital that workers understand their rights, and employers their obligations.

“The Low Pay Commission is pleased to see the government maintaining the momentum of its minimum wage enforcement.

“The recent announcement that all workers will have a right to payslips stating the hours they have worked – an idea originally proposed by the LPC – is a positive step.”

Marriott and Wagamama have both taken steps to rectify their mistakes.

A spokesman for the hotel chain said: “Marriott is committed to compliance with the national minimum wage. When an error was identified by a routine HMRC audit in 2015, we cooperated fully with HMRC and promptly reimbursed all those affected. We apologise to all our associates impacted by this error and have taken steps to ensure it cannot happen again.”

Wagamama responded in a comment posted on its Facebook page.

The restaurant chain said: “As an employer we have always paid minimum wage and make sure that our staff receive 100 per cent of their tips. In the past we didn’t realise that asking our front of house staff to wear casual black jeans or skirt, with their Wagamama branded top, was considered as asking them to buy a form of uniform and so we should have paid them for it.

“Lots of other businesses were also unaware of this regulation around casual wear.

“This was an inadvertent misunderstanding of how the minimum wage regulations apply to uniforms and as soon as we were made aware of this in 2016 we acted immediately to correct the position.

“We have gladly made payments to current and previous employees who missed out dating back from 2016 to 2013. We have also updated our uniform policy and we now pay a uniform supplement to cover the black jeans. Our people are the heart and soul of Wagamama and we take great pride in supporting and helping them to build their careers with us.”