labourhub.org.uk
Daylight robbery
Mike Phipps reviews Unpaid: The Past, Present, and Future of Wage Theft, by Matthew Cole, published by Verso. First some shocking numbers: in 2018, a UK government audit found that Marriot Hotels, whose UK arms made £8.2m in gross profits in 2019, underpaid 279 workers £71,722 through unlawful deductions. From 2017 to 2024, 45,781 claims were lodged for unauthorised deductions, plus 29,886 additional claims, mostly around unpaid holiday. Yet out of more than 4,800 firms fined by the government since 2016, only 109 have actually paid – just £95,000 out of £9.8m in fines.