ALMOST 40 employers owing workers £177,000 in arrears for not paying the national minimum wage were “named and shamed” by the government today.

The 37 offenders include a childcare centre in Wolverhampton, a tanning boutique in Glasgow, a building firm in Edinburgh and a cleaning company in Worksop.

Just those four face financial penalties totalling more than £51,000.

However “with over 600 employers being caught underpaying each year, those named and shamed today are only the tip of the iceberg,” argued TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady.

Nearly 100 employers have now been publicly named by the government since a new regime came into force in October 2013.

Unions pressed for larger fines against firms found to be paying less than the statutory rates of £6.50 an hour for adults, £5.13 for 18 to 20-year-olds, £3.79 for 16 and 17-year-olds and £2.73 for apprentices.

“There are companies out there that cheat hundreds of staff out of a legal minimum wage — these are the biggest offenders and their pay crimes must be made public too,” said Ms O’Grady.

“Ministers must also step up enforcement action with more prosecutions, higher fines and a bigger team of enforcement officers to catch the cheats.”

The TUC recently published a 10-point plan for minimum wage enforcement, including a call for much higher fines.

Business Minister Jo Swinson said: “Paying less than the minimum wage is illegal, immoral and completely unacceptable.

“If employers break this law they need to know that we will take tough action by naming, shaming and fining them as well as helping workers recover the hundreds of thousands of pounds in pay owed to them.”