On 3 September 2026, the government named 658 employers for underpaying the National Minimum Wage. Between them, they’d shortchanged more than 27,000 workers by around £4 million and picked up £7 million in penalties on top.
Plenty of the names are businesses you’d expect to get payroll right, including household-name retailers, NHS hospital trusts, care groups and nursery chains.
The National Living Wage rises to £13.21 an hour in April 2027 (see our Autumn Budget round-up), so you’ve got about 5 months to make sure the next uprating doesn’t land you on a future list.
Who made the list
This is the first round published since the Fair Work Agency launched in April 2026. HMRC is still doing the investigating on the agency’s behalf until the Fair Work Agency takes over fully in April 2027.
These are the biggest names by arrears, plus two that show how small an underpayment can be.
| Employer | Arrears | Workers affected | Average per worker |
| B&Q Limited | £456,934.72 | 4,530 | £101 |
| Elysium Healthcare Holdings 3 Limited | £330,048.81 | 1,095 | £301 |
| St George’s, Epsom and St Helier Hospital Group | £123,331.97 | 75 | £1,644 |
| Support Staff Services Limited | £119,715.13 | 323 | £371 |
| Forest Holidays Limited | £100,308.68 | 598 | £168 |
| Five Guys JV Limited | £54,642.47 | 3,699 | £15 |
| Kids Planet Day Nurseries Limited | £117.72 | 11 | £11 |
Five Guys underpaid 3,699 people by about £15 each and put it down to technical differences in how the payroll rules were applied. Kids Planet was named over £117.72 in total. There’s no minimum amount before your name goes on GOV.UK.
Scroll the full list and the same sectors keep coming up: care, nurseries, hospitality, cleaning and recruitment. They all employ lots of people paid on or close to the minimum, so the smallest slip takes someone under it.
How good employers end up on the list
The mistakes behind these names are mostly buried in the detail of how pay is calculated. These are the ones we see catch employers out most often.
Deductions that take pay below the rate
Someone on £12.71 an hour has no room for a deduction. Take £10 off for a polo shirt, a DBS check or a training course, and their pay for minimum wage purposes drops below the legal rate. Salary sacrifice for pensions, cars or bikes has the same effect.
Test pay after work-related deductions every pay period for anyone near the rate. Provide uniforms free or reimburse them in full, and don’t let salary sacrifice take anyone under.
Unpaid working time
Minimum wage applies to every minute someone works. Pre-shift briefings, security checks, handovers, compulsory training and travel between care visits all count, and so do the 7 minutes lost when a clock-in at 8.53 gets rounded to 9.00.
Pay from the moment work starts, whatever the rota says. List everything your people do before, between and after shifts, and check each one is paid.
Missing the April rise
Rates went up on 1 April 2026 to £12.71 for over-21s, £10.85 for 18 to 20 year olds and £8 for under-18s and apprentices. The usual traps are pay reference periods that straddle 1 April, and salaried staff whose pay looked fine last year but falls short once their actual hours are counted.
Load the new rates before April and apply them from the first pay reference period starting on or after 1 April. Then rerun the hours check for salaried staff. You’ll be doing all of this again for £13.21 next year.
The wrong rate for apprentices and birthdays
The £8 apprentice rate only applies to apprentices under 19 or in the first year of their apprenticeship. Once that first year’s up, an apprentice aged 19 or over is due the rate for their age. Birthdays catch people out as well, because a worker who turns 21 is due £12.71 from their next pay reference period.
Record start dates and dates of birth accurately, and set automatic flags for 19th and 21st birthdays and apprenticeship anniversaries.
Accommodation charges
If you provide accommodation, the most you can count towards minimum wage is £11.10 a day. Charge more, or add extras like utilities or laundry, and the difference comes straight off minimum wage pay.
Keep charges at or below the offset for anyone paid near the rate, and look hard at any add-ons.
Worker status
Calling someone self-employed, a volunteer, an intern or a trial shift doesn’t change whether they’re a worker. If they’re doing real work under your direction, they’re due at least the minimum wage.
Check status before anyone starts, based on what they actually do. Unpaid trial shifts and unpaid internships are red flags.
The wrong type of work
Minimum wage law splits work into 4 types:
- time work
- salaried hours work
- output work
- unmeasured work.
Each has its own calculation, so a role filed under the wrong type gets the sums wrong from day one.
Classify every role properly, keep the records each type needs and have someone who knows the rules sign it off.
Why small mistakes get expensive
A £15 underpayment sounds like loose change. Multiply it by 3,699 workers, then add:
- arrears recalculated at today’s rate if the minimum wage has gone up since the error
- a penalty of 200% of the arrears, capped at £20,000 per worker (halved if you pay within 14 days)
- your name on GOV.UK, which stays in search results long after the penalty’s paid.
You have to keep minimum wage records for 6 years, and arrears can stretch back further than that. A habit you picked up years ago can still put you on a list today.
The Fair Work Agency is also set to enforce holiday pay and statutory sick pay, so the same process gaps could soon cost you twice. A once-a-year look at hourly rates won’t spot a deduction that went in last month. Compliance has to be part of every payroll run.
Your 10-minute minimum wage health check
Run through these this week. Any answer that makes you wince is your starting point.
- Is everyone on at least the April 2026 rate for their age or apprentice status?
- Do any deductions (uniforms, training, DBS checks, equipment) take anyone below the rate?
- Could salary sacrifice push anyone under?
- Are staff paid for briefings, security checks, handovers, training and travel between jobs?
- Does your clock-in system round time in your favour?
- Do salaried staff still clear the rate once their real hours are counted?
- Are birthdays and apprenticeship anniversaries flagged automatically?
- Are accommodation charges at or below £11.10 a day?
- Is anyone doing unpaid trial shifts, internships or volunteering?
- Could you prove all of the above for the last 6 years?
- Is the £13.21 rate for April 2027 already in your plans?
If you find a problem, fix it, pay the arrears and put the process right. Acas offers free advice if you’re unsure where you stand.
Keep your name off the next list
A 7-minute rounding error can put you on the same list as a deliberate shortfall. That’s why minimum wage is best handled by people who work with the rules every day.
At Ascend, our payroll pros check minimum wage compliance on every run, including the deductions, hours and rate changes that catch others out. The April 2027 rates will be in before the first pay period that needs them, and when someone turns 21, their pay goes up on time.
If you’d like a second pair of eyes on your payroll, talk to our team and we’ll show you what payroll, perfected looks like.
