TWO Taunton businesses have been named and shamed in a list of employers who have underpaid their employees. 

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy released a list of 359 businesses who underpaid 15,513 a total of £994,685 across a range of sectors. 

The Castle Hotel in Taunton and Anna Corrigan were both on the list that was published on February 15 that names employers who failed to pay eligible workers at least the new National Living Wage. 

The Castle Hotel failed to pay £1,398.59 to four workers, and Anne Corrigan failed to pay £1,196.43 to one worker. 

A spokesman for The Castle Hotel said: “During a busy summer period in 2015, it was necessary for some of our salaried chefs to work extra hours which unfortunately took them below National Minimum Wage for the hours they were working.

"For the rest of the year these staff were paid above National Minimum Wage based on their normal working week.

"Doing the right thing for our staff is something we take very seriously and with a payroll of £1m per annum, the level of underpayment, although regretful, was very small in comparison showing that as a company we do not have a culture of underpaying staff. 

"Once this error was pointed out to us, we made up the underpayment to the staff in their next pay cheque. We have also carried out a full audit of systems and processes with all of our department managers to prevent anything like this from happening in the future.”

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."

Excuses across the nation for underpaying workers included using tips to top up pay, docking workers’ wages to pay for their Christmas party and making staff pay for their own uniforms out of their salary.