Workers being victimised by "Scrooge employer" Apex Care have been slapped with a media gagging order to stop them speaking out against the firm's harsh practices, union Unison said yesterday.

The union launched a high-profile campaign against the Hampshire-based company's alleged flouting of minimum wage laws and imposing punitive changes and sanctions on its hard-working, mainly female workforce.

Now it's forcing workers to get company permission before talking to the press, refusing to provide workers with copies of the employee handbook mentioned in their contract and insisting it has the right to search employees and their possessions, the union said.

Staff wishing to see the handbook must book an appointment to read it in an office.

And despite employing workers on zero-hours contracts, staff must get management permission to do other work - even if it's voluntary.

The union said the company had added "insult to injury" by threatening to sack workers who speak out about the injustices they suffer.

Unison head of local government Heather Wakefield said: "If Apex has nothing to hide, why has it imposed a gagging order on staff and threatened to dismiss workers who speak out when the company is breaking the law?

"Staff are being bullied and harassed out of employment and compliance with the national minimum wage is still a major issue.

"These workers care for the most vulnerable people in our communities, and it is only right that they are valued and paid fairly for the vital work that they do."

Ms Wakefield accused Apex of targeting Unison members by "starving" them of work, in some cases reducing weekly hours from 40 to four and withdrawing vehicles which workers need to travel between clients.

Hampshire County Council has suspended new work for the company as it waits for the results of an HM Revenue and Customs investigation into the allegations.

Ms Wakefield said the problem was not isolated to Apex and that there are many rogue care companies exploiting low paid workers and feeding off public coffers.

"Councils have a moral responsibility to ensure that the contracts they use to deliver services to the community are not merely contracts of convenience," she said.

"When private companies are failing in their duty, councils must acknowledge that the buck stops with them and put measures in place to ensure that employers abide by the law."

Social care providers are Britain's biggest offenders for not paying the minimum wage, according to the Centre for London think tank.

Most carers "do not get paid the minimum wage for the time they have to spend travelling between clients," a think thank report says.

Unison said this is exactly what Apex is doing - and is trying to hide the fact by "refusing to provide employees with itemised pay slips."

The Morning Star tried to contact Apex for comment but was told no-one was available.