BUSINESSES in Wales including one in Gwent have been named for failing to pay their workers the National Minimum Wage.

Business Minister Nick Boles has named 75 employers across the UK who have failed to pay their workers the National Minimum Wage.

Among the list was Shapes Hair Ltd in Newport who neglected to pay £5,771.54 to one worker.

The owner, who did not give her name, said it was “accidental”.

She added: “It was a sheer oversight on my part.”

Another four Welsh businesses were named on the list including MD’s Hair and Beauty Studio in Colwyn Bay, Conwy; Donaldson Plastering in Swansea; Cherry Tree Autos of Treharris, in Merthyr Tydfil; and Hair Matters in Wrexham.

The current National Minimum Wage rates are adult rate (21 and over) £6.50 per hour, 18 to 20-year olds - £5.13 per hour, 16 to 17-year olds - £3.79 per hour and apprentice rate - £2.73 per hour.

Between the named companies on the UK list, workers were owed over £153,000 in arrears, and span sectors including hairdressing, fashion, publishing, hospitality, health and fitness, automotive, social care, and retail.

This brings the total number of companies named and shamed under the scheme, which was introduced in October 2013, to 285 employers, with total arrears of over £788,000 and total penalties of over £325,000.

Business Minister Nick Boles 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 (2016) we will enforce robustly. This means that the hard-working people of the UK will get the pay rise they deserve.”

From October 2015 the National Minimum Wage (NMW) will increase to £6.70.

MD’s Hair and Beauty Studio, Colwyn Bay, neglected to pay £1,752.96 to one worker; Donaldson Plastering, Swansea, neglected to pay £123.79 to one worker; Cherry Tree Autos, Treharris, neglected to pay £3,006.63 to one worker and Hair Matters, Wrexham, neglected to pay £807.58 to two workers.

Employers and workers can call the Acas helpline or visit www.gov.uk if they need information about the NMW.