Six Scottish businesses have been named and shamed as part of the HM Revenue & Customs new national minimum wage campaign.
Between them the businesses owe £18875.45 to nine different workers.
The worst offender was Clinton and Elaine Dailly of Clinton Dailly Hair Design who had neglected to pay £6,128.73 to two workers.
At the lower end of the spectrum was Amore, an Italian Restaurant in Aberdeen, which had neglected to pay £126.30 to two different workers.
The companies were among 75 across the country which had failed to pay their workers over £153,000, and span sectors including hairdressing, fashion, publishing, hospitality, health and fitness, automotive, social care, and retail.
As part of the campaign the HMRC will provide employers with tailored tools and guidance to check if they are paying the correct amount, and put it right where they are not.
Employers who take this opportunity to self-correct will not have to pay penalties, nor will they be ‘named and shamed’.
If employers choose not to comply with their NMW obligations, HMRC will take action to ensure that employees are paid what they are owed.
HMRC action to tackle employers who fail to pay the minimum wage identified £3.2 million in NMW arrears involving over 26,000 workers across a range of sectors in 2014/15 alone.
Jennie Granger, HMRC Director General of Enforcement and Compliance, said: “This innovative campaign is about helping employees who have been underpaid get the money they are legally due back into their pockets. It will help them understand where they can report underpaying employers confidentially.
“I urge all employers and employees in the sector to check that salary is being paid correctly, as we will use these extra resources to find and investigate where it is not. Check you’re paying NMW correctly – it’s worth it.”
Business Minister Nick Boles, who named the businesses, said: “As a one nation government on the side of working people we are determined that everyone who is entitled to the National Minimum Wage receives it.
“When the new National Living Wage is introduced next April we will enforce robustly. This means that the hard-working people of the UK will get the pay rise they deserve.”
From October the National Minimum Wage will increase to £6.70.
