29th May 2025 13:38
(Alliance News) - Pizza Express, Lidl, International Consolidated Airlines Group SA's British Airways, and outsourcing firm Capita PLC are among the British businesses named by the UK government for failing to pay some of their staff the minimum wage.
The Department for Business & Trade, DBT, released a list of 518 employers and businesses that underpaid workers over several years.
It means pay for some staff fell short of the national minimum wage, or the national living wage, which is what the government calls the minimum wage for those aged over 21.
In total, nearly 60,000 people had been left out of pocket, the DBT said.
Capita, one of the government's biggest suppliers with major public sector contacts, was top of the list, owing GBP1.15 million to 5,543 workers.
This meant individual employees were underpaid about GBP208 on average.
A spokesman for Capita said it was "inadvertent underpayments" between 2015 and 2021, due to some issues including adding 25 minutes per week for call centre staff to log in for their shifts.
"All owed monies were paid immediately, and we are sorry for any impact this had on colleagues and former colleagues at that time," the company added.
"Our processes and systems were updated to ensure there would be no further issues; we have continued to monitor them carefully, as well as any changes to employment regulations."
Pizza Express failed to pay GBP760,702 to 8,470 workers – amounting to about GBP90 on average.
A spokeswoman for Pizza Express said: "Once we were made aware of this historic unintentional technicality, which occurred between 2012 and 2018, we swiftly identified who was impacted, apologised and rectified.
"There's nothing more important to us than fairly and accurately paying our team members."
Lidl was also high on the list, having owed GBP286,437 to 3,423 employees.
And British Airways was named for failing to pay GBP231,276 to 2,165 workers.
Meanwhile, smaller groups of employees were underpaid larger sums by some British companies – such as hotel chain Hilton UK which underpaid 20 members of staff an average of GBP946 each.
Restaurant chain Prezzo, motoring and cycling retailer Halfords Group PLC, and travel group Tui AG were also found to have been underpaying some workers over several years.
All the workers left short will be repaid a combined GBP7.4 million, following investigations by HMRC between 2015 and 2022.
The national living wage was GBP11.44 in the year to the end of March, and has risen to GBP12.21 since April.
The minimum wage for 18-20-year-olds rose to GBP10 this year, and for those aged under 18 it rose to GBP7.55.
Justin Madders, the minister for employment rights, said: "There is no excuse for employers to undercut their workers, and we will continue to name companies who break the law and don't pay their employees what they are owed."
The government said that not all minimum wage underpayments are intentional, but those who do not pay staff correctly will be penalised.
The businesses named on Thursday faced financial penalties of up to 200% of the total amount they underpaid.
Lidl, and British Airways have been contacted for comment.
Shares in BA owner IAG were 1.5% higher at 338.00 pence each on Thursday afternoon in London, while shares in Capita were down 5.0% at 219.40p each. Halfords shares were flat at 166.80p each, while Tui shares were up 1.4% at EUR7.61 each in Frankfurt.
By Anna Wise, PA Business Reporter
Press Association: Finance
source: PA
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