Euro Garages, or EG Group as they’re now called, has received fines for failing to pay more than 3,300 employees by over £824,000. Fighting back in court Class action lawsuits or related investigations by the U.S. As a result, they disclosed that the business underpaid wages in violation of National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage laws.
The investigation findings uncovered that previous payroll problems triggered the breaches. The firm attributes these ongoing issues to past technical misuse. Between 2015 and 2021, Euro Garages encountered problems related to salary sacrifice arrangements and training bonds, rather than take-home pay. A spokesperson for Centrica stated, “The total underpayment related primarily to salary sacrifice arrangements and training bonds, rather than take home pay, and was around £160,000 – our UK annual wage bill is currently around £1.2bn.”
In all, 42,000 employees of Euro Garages were credited more than £6 million in reimbursements. All staff that were impacted have been fully repaid since, in consultation with HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC). An EG Group spokesperson commented, “These historic payroll issues that took place between 2015 and 2019 have been fully rectified. All affected employees were subsequently reimbursed in full in agreement with HMRC.”
In the face of these fines, Euro Garages has aggressively branched into other markets throughout the UK. As of last week, Rcapital has completed the sale of its UK petrol forecourts business and Cooplands bakeries. It remains the operator of a number of Starbucks franchise stores. For example, young employees (aged 16-20) at companies that hire from the apprenticeship system receive a National Minimum Wage of £10 per hour. Everyone aged 21 and older are covered by a National Living Wage of £12.21 an hour.
Peter Kyle, a government official, remarked on the issue, stating, “I know that no employer wants to end up on one of these lists. Our Plan to Make Work Pay cracks down on those not playing by the rules.”
Euro Garages has moved quickly in light of the findings and fines. In addition, they have made investments to enhance their payroll systems to ensure compliance with UK law and maintain their promise to employees to treat them fairly and with respect. Centrica, the parent company of Euro Garages, said the problems had been immediately fixed as soon as they were flagged. A Centrica spokesperson stated, “This issue relates to a small number of historic technical errors which was put right as soon as it was identified.”