More than 5,000 poorly paid workers have received a welcome wage boost this Christmas because of a government crackdown on minimum wage payments.

Figures from the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) suggest that bosses who failed to pay workers the minimum wage have been forced to hand over �3m ($4.8m) in arrears for the past eight months.

The DTI said a total of �12m had now been collected from unscrupulous bosses who had not paid the minimum wage since it was introduced in April 1999.

The minimum wage was set at �4.20 per hour for 22 year olds and over and �3.60 for workers aged between 18 and 21, but thousands of employers had either deliberately or unwittingly failed to meet these levels.

Christmas bonus

Scrooge bosses will not get away with poverty pay Alan Johnson, Employment minister

The DTI said its timely findings had identified more than 5,000 workers who would receive an average of �550 each in payment arrears.

One example was a 73 year old cleaner, who recently received �1,118 because his employer had not realised the minimum wage applied to workers aged over 65.

Employment minister Alan Johnson said: "I am delighted that a �3m pay boost for over five thousand workers has been identified in time for Christmas."

The government is now urging workers to make contact if they believe they are being underpaid.

"We are committed to delivering decent standards at work and scrooge bosses will not get away with poverty pay," said Mr Johnson.

Asking for more

However, a number of workers are still protesting that the minimum wage is not enough.

Low paid public sector employees in London last month claimed they were being forced to take on two or three jobs in order to meet the cost of living in London.

They are calling for a minimum wage of �6.50 per hour.

In the past few months, university staff, teachers and council workers have voted to strike over London allowances.