B&Q and Five Guys among firms that paid staff below minimum wage

Over 650 UK Employers Ordered to Repay Workers After Minimum Wage Shortfalls

Ninoda.com – The Department for Business and Trade has published a sweeping enforcement list naming 658 employers across Britain who failed to pay their workforce the legally required minimum wage. In total, more than £4 million in back wages has been recovered for affected employees, while penalties totalling £7 million have been levied against the offending firms. The action spans retail, hospitality, childcare, social care, and public-sector healthcare — a breadth that underscores how widespread payroll compliance failures have become.

Among the most prominent names on the list are DIY retailer B&Q and American-style burger chain Five Guys, both of which issued explanations for their respective shortfalls. The enforcement round marks the first formal “naming” exercise carried out by the Fair Work Agency, a body established in April under the Employment Rights Act. Beyond minimum wage enforcement, the agency is expected to move soon against employers who deny workers their statutory holiday and sick pay entitlements.

What the Rates Require

Under current UK law, the national minimum wage stands at £12.71 per hour for workers aged 21 and above. Employees aged 18 to 20 must receive at least £10.85 per hour, while those under 18 and apprentices are owed a minimum of £8 per hour. The government did not specify the time period over which the identified underpayments accumulated, leaving the duration of non-compliance at each firm unclear from the published data.

B&Q: Geographical Allowance Calculations

B&Q tops the list by sheer volume of unpaid wages. The company failed to pay a combined £456,934.72 to 4,530 workers — the largest single shortfall on the published ranking. In its response, the retailer characterised the gap as an inadvertent arithmetic issue tied to regional pay supplements.

“The shortfalls in payments were unintentional. They relate to calculations involving geographical allowances which are paid in addition to minimum hourly rates. All affected colleagues were quickly paid in full in July 2025.”

The explanation suggests that B&Q’s payroll system misapplied location-based top-ups when determining whether an employee’s total hourly package cleared the statutory floor, resulting in small per-hour deficits that compounded across thousands of shifts.

Five Guys: Payroll Interpretation Discrepancies

Five Guys JV Limited, operating in London’s Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, appears ninth on the list with an outstanding balance of £54,642.47 owed to 3,699 staff members. The company attributed the shortfall to divergent readings of payroll rules.

“Technical differences in how payroll regulations were applied” led to its underpayments, which were identified in a review by the HMRC, the UK’s revenue and tax authority. “We worked closely and transparently with HMRC throughout the process and have made all required payments to affected current and former employees,” the company said.

HMRC’s involvement in flagging the issue highlights the role the tax authority plays in auditing payroll compliance alongside dedicated labour-market regulators.

NHS Trusts and the Salary-Sacrifice Question

Two hospital groups appear in the top ten. St George’s, Epsom and St Helier Hospital Group is listed as owing £123,331.97 to 75 workers, while St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in Wandsworth, London, underpaid 55 staff to the tune of £77,498.91. A joint spokesman pushed back on the characterisation of the shortfall.

“No colleagues were underpaid. This relates to a technical compliance issue where part of their salary for a non tax-deductable ‘salary sacrifice’ (for example, towards childcare) was not counted towards the national minimum wage, even though their gross salary was above the national minimum wage.”

The distinction matters: salary-sacrifice arrangements, in which employees trade cash pay for benefits such as childcare vouchers or pension contributions, can create ambiguity about which portion of compensation counts toward the wage floor. The government’s position, as reflected in the naming, treats the post-sacrifice figure as the operative amount.

Separately, Norfolk Community Health and Care NHS Trust acknowledged that its apprentices were inadvertently underpaid between 2019 and 2023. A spokesperson explained that while contracted-hour pay met requirements, time spent in meetings, clinical handovers, and changing into uniform had not been factored into the calculation. The trust stated it has since revised its payroll policies and practices to capture all working time.

The Broader List: Care, Childcare, and Leisure

Beyond the headline names, the 658-firm roster includes multiple nursing homes, several childcare providers, and a handful of NHS trusts. Other entries in the top ten include Elysium Healthcare Holdings 3 Ltd in Borehamwood (£330,048.81 to 1,095 workers), Support Staff Services Limited in Slough (£119,715.13 to 323 workers), Forest Holidays Ltd in Moira (£100,308.68 to 598 workers), Lanes Group Limited in Leeds (£67,893.34 to 297 workers), UK Care Team Ltd in Leicester (£67,082.76 to 99 workers), and Merlin Cinemas Limited in Redruth (£50,198.75 to 181 workers).

The concentration of care-sector employers on the list is notable. Social care and residential childcare roles are frequently low-paid, shift-based positions where small hourly deficits can accumulate rapidly across large workforces, making payroll errors particularly costly in aggregate.

Government Response

Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds framed the action as a matter of both legality and commercial sense.

“The government is determined to stamp out the practice of short-changing your staff. The best businesses know that looking after your workers isn’t just the right thing to do, it’s the smart thing to do.”

Kate Dearden, minister for the future of work, took a firmer tone aimed directly at employers.

“Underpaying your staff is illegal, and we will not let workers foot the bill for their boss failing to follow the rules. Every employer should check their payroll now and reach out to Acas if they need further support.”

Acas, the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service, provides free guidance to employers and employees on workplace rights. The minister’s call for proactive payroll audits signals that the government intends to shift the compliance burden onto firms before enforcement becomes necessary.

What Comes Next

The Fair Work Agency’s mandate extends well beyond minimum wage. With holiday pay and sick pay enforcement on the near-term agenda, employers across sectors should expect a sustained programme of payroll scrutiny. The penalties attached to this round — £7 million across 658 firms — represent a financial deterrent, but the reputational cost of appearing on a publicly named list may prove equally consequential for companies competing for a tight labour market.

For workers who suspect they have been underpaid, the practical steps remain straightforward: review payslips against the applicable rate, calculate total hours worked including any ancillary duties, and contact Acas or the relevant enforcement body. The publication of this list, while not exhaustive, provides a benchmark against which employees can assess whether their own employer’s practices align with the law.