A BAR owner and his business partner face legal action after failing to meet a deadline set down by the tax office to pay more than £800 in wages owed to a former employee.

Mani Madhani and Patrick Edwards allegedly owe the sum to Iryna Shymkova, who worked at a coffee shop they ran at Nuffield Health on the Greenbridge Retail Park.

Mrs Shymkova, 30, claims she was paid in cash at below the minimum wage while employed at the venture, which later closed.

And she says she did not receive her final month’s pay.

Mr Madhani has said he paid the correct amount once tax deductions were taken into account but has admitted there is money owed, which he says has not been collected. The HMRC agreed the partnership owe £838 in wages to Mrs Shymkova, who worked for three months from February 2012 at the Old Bank Coffee Lounge.

A 28-day period set down by the tax office for the money to be paid has since passed. The HMRC, which has offered to collect the payment, said in an email to the former employee that the file has been passed to its technical office, which briefs its solicitors, ahead of legal action. Mrs Shymkova believes the onus is on Mr Madhani to make the payment, not on her to collect it. She also worked part-time for the businessman at the Old Bank bar, in Wood Street, Old Town.

The mother-of-one, of Kingshill, claims she was paid in cash at the rate of £5 an hour for her work at the cafe before it was taken back in-house by Nuffield last April.

In a letter to the tax office, she said: “Mr Edwards was responsible for the day-to-day running of the coffee lounge. “He offered me a job, at the rate of £5 per hour, cash-in-hand. I began working there in February and was paid for my work at that hourly rate for February and March.” Mrs Shymkova claims she was told by the company that, due to her other job at the bar, she was receiving below the minimum wage because she was not paying tax.

She said. “The personal tax allowance for the year ending April 5, 2012 was £7,475. Even with the other job at the Old Bank bar, my earnings would have been below this threshold.” Mrs Shymkova, a Ukrainian national who is entitled to work in the UK, has been kept on by the health club, where she is considered a model employee.

She is pursuing the claim with her husband Roman Hlodan.

In correspondence seen by the Adver, a HMRC officer concluded Mr Madhani and Mr Edwards owed £828 because they did not provide at least the minimum wage. Mr Madhani has denied Mrs Shymkova was paid below the legal hourly amount once tax deductions were taken into account. He declined to comment other than to say the outstanding cash was with his solicitor waiting to be collected.

The 43-year-old company director said previously: “We agreed with the tax office to take all the pay she had, put it through the pay slip, deduct the tax and what is left is what she’s owed.

“The officer at the tax office dealing with it has agreed that. Iryna has not come to collect her pay. If she wants to get rude and not turn up to appointments, what can I do?”

Mr Hlodan said last week: “There is no impediment for Mr Madhani to pay this money through a variety of channels which would be of no inconvenience to him.”

Lisa Billard of HM Revenue and Customs said: “We are unable to comment on individual cases, but our role is to enforce the law and protect vulnerable workers. Anyone with concerns or questions about the National Minimum Wage should contact the Pay and Work Rights Helpline on 0800 917 2368. Information can also be found at www.gov.uk/national-minimum-wage.”