MOSCOW (Sputnik) — MiHomecare, one of the largest British care providers to elderly and disabled adults, has not been paying its employees the national minimum wage, investigative organization Corporate Watch said Friday.
The care home owes almost 80,000 pounds ($117,828) to 50 of its staff in Penarth, Wales, as people were not paid for time spent travelling from one appointment to the next. As a result, workers were receiving less than the minimum wage.
The information was contained in a MiHomecare internal document which was leaked to the research group.
Pay and allowances can vary, but the rules concerning travel time are not clear, MiHomecare claimed in the review.
The care home said that the officials had contacted Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to ensure whether the pay at its Penarth branch corresponds to the rules.
In February, HMRC, which is responsible for compliance with the National Minimum Wage, announced that it would investigate six of the UK's largest care homes for elderly and disabled people. The department pledged to name companies, which do not comply with minimum wage laws.
MiHomecare, owned by the outsourcing giant Mitie, has at leach 6,000 home care employees in England and Wales, who look after 10,000 elderly and disabled adults.
