A Dundee city councillor has slammed the firm behind a new 150-room waterfront hotel after it was named and shamed for failing to pay the minimum wage.
Craig Duncan condemned Marriott Hotels after a UK Government report found it had paid hundreds of employees below the legal rate.
He said meeting Scottish living wage requirements was “absolutely non-negotiable” for companies operating in Dundee.
It comes after planning chiefs were forced to give assurances last month that the new hotel development would not destabilise local industry.
The project is expected to create around 120 jobs, plus a further 260 construction posts. Marriott Hotels assured committee members it would pay the full living wage.
However, the firm has come under fresh scrutiny after being named among 179 UK employers — including 15 in Scotland — who failed to deliver the minimum wage to all staff.
https://www.thecourier.co.uk/news/scotland/614916/preferred-operator-new-dundee-waterfront-hotel-shamed-failing-pay-minimum-wage/
Mr Duncan said: “I was very concerned indeed that a major hotel operator should fail in its legal obligation to pay nearly 300 of their staff across the UK the minimum wage.
“The company has apologised and now given assurances about future conduct but this should absolutely not have happened and must never be repeated.
“At the council’s city development committee, I sought assurances about pay rates and was assured that Marriott has committed to pay no less than the Scottish Living Wage.
“Marriott Hotels must be absolutely held to that. If the waterfront development is to be the success we all want it to be, all workers there have to have good pay and conditions.”
Dundee hair salon Jackson Gray was also named on the list after being accused of failing to pay out a total of £2,514 to four members of staff.
However, owner Wayne Gray said the business had been unfairly penalised due to a staff savings scheme and his team could still “hold their head high”.
“We had a £2 lottery syndicate and £2 Christmas savings club where staff asked that the money be taken straight from their wages each week to save for a night out,” he said.
“That meant that apprentice wages fell below the minimum wage. What they don’t know is that Jackson Gray gave all the money back and paid for the night out for all our staff.
“We will now be changing the system,” he added.
The Courier asked Marriott Hotels for a response but was told no one was available to comment.
