“Yes, we have paid everyone in full”

Case closed, well done DC

Thanks for clearing that up DC.

It's been said plenty of times but we are quite lucky that we have a chairman who actually communicates with fans and explains both the good and the bad.
I can't imagine that happens on any other forum.

And that's just the first team squad !!!!!!!!

Thanks for the explanation there Daddycool, and for clearing that one up

Going back to the original post.
There is a world of difference in deliberately paying less than minimum wage and falling foul of some nuance within employment law.
It's great that MC has clarified this but, you do have to question how this stuff is reported.
Within the pages of a broadsheet paper, we look just the same as companies that ARE deliberately underpaying their staff and that doesn't seem right.

Even "fans" of the club are quick to leap in with the holier than thou comments.

Indeed

Indeed - and usually ones who have no clue about how complicated it is to comply with the ever-changing rules about NMW; from an employers perspective, it's far from clear, and interpretation can change based on case law and HMRC judgements, that they arbitrarily decide to backdate. The lads who've had this backdated payment probably had no idea they were due it at the time, and have benefited from an ET case brought by someone else, in an unrelated environment, that HMRC have decided to apply across the board.

It's highly UNlikely to be a deliberate ploy by MC to enslave academy players like a Victorian workhouse owner - and since he's rectified the matter and taken the fine on the chin, it should be considered closed.