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Scottish businesses who failed to pay their staff the national minimum have been 'named and shame' by the UK Government .

A Glasgow dentist, a catering company in Edinburgh and a Highland pizza store appeared on a UK-wide stingy list alongside high street giants like Wagamama and TGI Friday's.

Heather Park Community Services Limited in North Lanarkshire led the Scottish contingent after failing to pay £26,018.63 to 73 workers.

Northern delivery chain 1st Pizza Direct Limited shortchanged their staff by £25,668.15, closely followed by Citi Dental Surgery in Glasgow who duped just two employees out of £8,733.33.

The Mirror reported that a total of 179 employers appeared on the national list, including English football clubs Birmingham City, Yeovil Town and Premier League Stoke City and rugby clubs St Helens and London Irish.

Wagamama was said to have failed to pay £133,212 to 2,630 workers, the most of any of the companies named.

TGI Friday's, meanwhile, withheld 2,302 of its staff to the tune of £59,348.

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

A total of £1.1 million in back pay was identified for 9,200 workers, with retail, hairdressing and hospitality businesses the most prolific offenders.

The UK Government has also fined the employers a total of £1.3 million in penalties.

Failing to pay workers for travelling between jobs, not paying overtime, and deducting money for uniforms were some of the reasons for the underpayments.

(Image: PA)

The seven staff left out of pocket at Stoke City will be particularly galled, given the club's billionaire owner Denise Coates paid herself more than £200 million in 2016 through her ownership of Bet365.

Business minister Andrew Griffiths said: "There are no excuses for shortchanging 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."

On that date, the National Living Wage will go up to £7.83 per hour. This the rate paid to over-25-year-old workers - it currently stands at £7.50.

New minimum wage rates from April 2018 *the £3.70 rate apples to apprentices under 19 or in their first year

The minimum wage is also set to rise for millions of workers.

A wagamama spokesperson said: “As an employer we have always paid minimum wage and make sure that our staff receive 100 per cent of their tips.

“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.

“In the past we didn’t realise that asking our front of house staff to wear casual blackjeans 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.

“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.”

A spokesperson for Marriott Hotels 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."

A TGI Fridays spokesperson said: “To confirm, TGI Fridays does pay the National Minimum Wage hourly rate.

"The total figure quoted in today’s HMRC list relates to reimbursing team members a shoe allowance.

"This is a historic payment which was paid last year, and we have since reimbursed team members for the purchase of their black uniform shoes.”

(Image: PA)

A Stoke City spokesman said: "Once this matter was brought to our attention we moved swiftly to repay the money to the members of staff concerned.

"The issue arose from our now historical practice of allowing staff to pay for tickets and retail merchandise voluntarily purchased from the club via deduction from their monthly salaries, for which the employees gave written permission for deductions to be made.

"Employees are now no longer permitted to purchase match or club lottery tickets or items from the club shop via such a wage deduction scheme.

"As a result, the reported breach will not recur and the club is confident that we are now fully compliant with all current regulations."

TUC general secretary Frances O'Grady said: "It's shocking to see so many household names on this list.

"The minimum wage has been around for nearly 20 years - there's no excuse for not paying it.

"Employers who cheat their staff out of the minimum wage deserve to be named and shamed. And they will rightly face hefty financial penalties.

"Minimum wage dodgers must have nowhere to hide."

Here's the list of Scottish employers in full

1. Heather Park Community Services Limited, North Lanarkshire ML2, failed to pay £26,018.63 to 73 workers.

2. 1st Pizza Direct Limited, Highland IV3, failed to pay £25,668.15 to 87 workers.

3. Mr Muhammad Adnan Safdar and Mrs Khadija Javaid, trading as Citi Dental Surgery, Glasgow City G51, failed to pay £8,733.33 to 2 workers.

4. Cost Effective Catering Limited, City of Edinburgh EH4, failed to pay £4,559.11 to 23 workers.

5. Mr Wayne Gray and Mrs Margaret Gray, trading as Jackson Gray, Dundee City DD3, failed to pay £2,514 to 4 workers.

6. Universal United Commerce Limited, City of Edinburgh EH6, failed to pay £2,009.88 to 2 workers.

7. James Ritchie Clocks (established 1809) Ltd, City of Edinburgh EH3, failed to pay £1,064.66 to 2 workers.

8. Poppies WL & S Limited, trading as Poppies, West Lancashire L39, failed to pay £1,061.70 to 69 workers.

9. Alison Margaret Smith, trading as A.M.S Hair & Beauty, City of Edinburgh EH12, failed to pay £935.21 to 1 worker.

10. Mrs Lisa Chakir, trading as Chairs Hairdresser, West Lothian EH49, failed to pay £774.86 to 1 worker.

11. Miss Zoe MacDonald, trading as Unique Hair & Beauty, Na h-Eileanan Siar HS1, failed to pay £686 to 1 worker.

12. Clear-View Fife Limited, trading as Clear-View Cleaning Specialists, Fife KY6, failed to pay £431.63 to 1 worker.

13. Saramago Ltd, trading as Saramago Café Bar, Glasgow City G2, failed to pay £425.63 to 4 workers.

14. Entier Limited, Aberdeenshire AB32, failed to pay £403.07 to 1 worker.

15. Jackson Gray Limited, trading as Jackson Gray, Dundee City DD3, failed to pay £343.38 to 3 workers.

16. P&P Duff (Scotland) Limited, trading as Patrick, Renfrewshire PA1, failed to pay £280.15 to 1 workers.