Nurseries, restaurants, dry cleaners and health and fitness groups are among 360 companies named and shamed by the government for underpaying thousands of workers nearly £1 million.

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy released its biggest ever list of offenders to shame companies into providing a fair wage.

Excuses for underpaying workers included using tips to top up pay, docking wages to pay for Christmas parties, and making staff pay for their own uniforms.

Retail giant Debenhams was accused of failing to pay almost £135,000 to just under 12,000 workers.

The company said it made a technical error in its payroll calculations, which resulted in an average underpayment of around £10 per person to affected workers in 2015.

The new list includes 84 employers in the hospitality industry, 51 in retail, 39 hairdressers and 24 in social care.

Here are the south London companies named and shamed in the list:

  • Willow Park Childrens Nurseries Limited trading as Willow Park Montessori Nursery in Eltham, failed to pay £6,027.40 to one worker;
  • Health & Fitness Travel Ltd in Wandsworth, failed to pay £2,732.09 to one worker;
  • First Stop Restaurants Limited trading as Bel's Diner in Orpington, failed to pay £1,410.32 to one worker;
  • Chic Dry Cleaners Ltd trading as Chic in Kingston-upon-Thames, failed to pay £974.50 to one worker;
  • Bula Restaurants Limited trading as The Ditton in Surbiton, failed to pay £653.24 to nine workers;
  • YUM! Restaurants International Limited trading as KFC in Surbiton, failed to pay £623.10 to one worker;
  • Rylease Limited in Croydon, failed to pay £357.21 to one worker;
  • La Bella OT Limited in Thornton Heath, failed to pay £310.55 to one worker;
  • Sensee Ltd in Chiswick, failed to pay £252.00 to one worker;
  • Miss Sherry Higgins trading as Cleanability in Croydon, failed to pay £248.54 to one worker;
  • Riverside Group (London) Limited, Bermondsey, failed to pay £234.00 to one worker;
  • London Agege Bread Bakers Limited in Charlton, failed to pay £210.00 to one worker;
  • Selected Food & Wine Limited, in Tooting, failed to pay £164.15 to one worker;
  • St Albans Pre-School in Sutton, failed to pay £159.28 to one worker;
  • Mr Rui Carrola & Mrs Paula Carrola trading as Ristorante Carola in Blackheath, failed to pay £123.69 to one worker.

Business minister Margot James said: "Every worker in the UK is entitled to at least the national minimum or living wage and this government will ensure they get it.

"That is why we have named and shamed more than 350 employers who failed to pay the legal minimum, sending the clear message to employers that minimum wage abuses will not go unpunished."

Iain Wright, chairman of the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee, added: “The problem of non-payment of the NMW surely goes far beyond the 350 companies named today.

"Evidence to our current world of work inquiry suggests this latest HMRC action is just the tip of the iceberg.

"We need tougher enforcement of the NMW, the question is do the HMRC and the Low Pay Commission have the powers and resources to do the job?"

Unions welcomed the announcement, but called for more prosecutions - there have been 13 since 2007.

TUC general secretary Frances O'Grady said: "This should be a wake-up call for employers who value their reputation. If you cheat your staff out of the minimum wage you will be named and shamed.

"But we also need to see prosecutions and higher fines for the most serious offenders, especially those who deliberately flout the law."

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