389 UK firms have failed to pay the minimum wage, government reveals

The government has released a list of employers across the UK that have failed to pay the minimum wage, which includes some of the UK’s most recognisable brands as well as several smaller businesses.

According to the figures, which were released at the tail-end of last week, the cohort of companies owes their underpaid employees millions, and has issued more than £10 million in penalties on top of wage repayments.

For small businesses, it’s a reminder of the importance of carefully auditing your employees’ working time and ensuring that all of your payments and practices comply with current legislation regarding the national minimum and living wage – particularly with the upcoming changes in April.

Hundreds of firms owe their workers money, government says

The government has revealed that nearly 400 UK businesses have been failing to pay their minimum wage workers properly, owing a combined total of £7.3 million in unpaid wages. Notable organisations that made the list include Bupa, Poundstretcher, Hays Travel, Costa, KPMG and Norwich City Football Club.

The most egregious case of underpayment was committed by ISS Mediclean, which failed to pay £1,506,959.68 to 6,580 workers. Costa, on the other hand, failed to pay £149,851.25 to 2,759 workers.

The total number of workers thought to have been underpaid sits at around 60,000. £12.6 million in penalties has been issued to the companies, the government’s figures show.

Fair Work Agency just around the corner

If you’re now thinking we need some much-needed regulatory reform to get a handle on this problem, then you’re in luck.

On April 7th, 2026, the government is launching the Fair Work Agency, a new body designed to enforce core employment rights, such as statutory sick pay, holiday pay and the national living minimum wage.

They will reportedly do this by combining powers from the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate, the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority and the national minimum wage enforcement team that previously operated within HMRC.

Broadly, their goal will be to investigate companies for poor working practices (both in response to complaints and proactively), and then issue notices or enforce penalties when they’re not playing by the rules. It’s hoped that the singular body will prove more powerful than the more disparate operations today.

Small businesses need to ensure they’re minimum wage compliant

With all this in mind, it’s never been more important for small business owners to ensure they’re compliant with the national minimum living wage standards. For instance:

• Have you properly audited your staff’s work time, accounting for all overtime, L&D and other types of training days?
• Have you ensured that salary sacrifice schemes, or even pension contributions, aren’t making staff pay slip below the national living minimum wage?
• Have you ensured that the types of employees who work for you (e.g. apprentices) are in the right pay bands, especially considering the upcoming changes to the national minimum wage?

For employers, these are just a small selection of questions relating to national minimum wage compliance that you should be asking yourself if you’re not already.