Record 22,400 minimum wage workers to receive millions in backpay

The names of 239 employers found to have underpaid 22,400 UK workers by a total of £1.44m have been published today by the government.

The back pay identified by HMRC was for more workers than in any previous single naming list and has generated record fines of £1.97m.

The earliest underpayment dated back to 2011, with the most recent happening this year (2018).

Business Minister Andrew Griffiths said:

Our priority is making sure workers know their rights and are getting the pay they worked hard for. Employers who don’t do the right thing face fines as well as being hit with the bill for backpay.

The UK’s lowest paid workers have had the fastest wage growth in 20 years thanks to the introduction of the National Living Wage and today’s list serves as a reminder to all employers to check they are getting their workers’ pay right.

The top 5 reasons for National Minimum and Living Wage underpayments in this round were:

• taking deductions from wages for costs such as uniforms

• underpaying apprentices

• failing to pay travel time

• misusing the accommodation offset

• using the wrong time periods for calculating pay