Ace Business Desk – The latest National Minimum Wage “naming and shaming” list has been released with over 500 companies have been named for failing to pay the minimum wage, resulting in nearly £16 million owed to over 172,000 workers. Common reasons for these violations include unintentional errors, such as incorrect deductions from wages and misclassifying employees
The Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade (DBIST) has today released a further naming round announcement for 660 employers failing to pay the National Minimum Wage (NMW). Information provided in this news article may be subject to change. Please make note of the date of publication to ensure that you are viewing up to date information Published: 06:Sept: 2026
The latest enforcement action has resulted in penalties totalling around £7 million being issued to the employers involved, with more than £4 million being repaid directly to over 27,000 workers.
The naming round is the latest in the Government’s efforts to increase the frequency with which employers who breach NMW legislation are publicly identified. It is also the first naming round since the Fair Work Agency was established in April 2026. While HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) continues to enforce NMW legislation on behalf of the Fair Work Agency, with the new body due to take over responsibility from April 2027. The new body is intended to provide a more streamlined approach to workers’ rights enforcement.
Matthew Taylor, chair of the Fair Work Agency Advisory Board, highlighted the importance of employers understanding their responsibilities and checking their payroll processes to ensure workers receive the pay to which they are entitled.
Along with the latest naming round, employers are also directed to the Government’s Educational Bulletin, which can be an excellent resource to see what areas need special attention.
This highlights the most common reasons for an error in NMW:
- reductions / deductions or payments that take pay below NMW
- unpaid working time takes pay below NMW
- failure to pay the uprated NMW
- failure to apply the correct rate to apprentices
- failure to apply the accommodation offset
- worker status error
- incorrect work type.
For pay professionals, NMW compliance involves more than simply checking that the employee’s hourly rate meets the relevant statutory rate. Employers must ensure that qualifying work time and payments are considered correctly when calculating NMW. Particular care may be required where employees receive deductions from pay, salary sacrifice arrangements, accommodation, uniform or other work-related costs, or where work patterns involve additional time outside employee’s contracted hours.
The latest enforcement action therefore provides an important reminder to check the payroll and correct any errors as soon as possible and it should be an ongoing compliance responsibility rather than an annual check.
The Government has urged employers to review their payroll processes and make corrections where necessary. With enforcement activity continuing and the Fair Work Agency’s remit set to expand, ensuring workers continue to receive the correct pay is likely to remain an important area of focus for pay professionals.
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