Holland & Barrett and Centrica among firms fined a combined £10.2 million for underpaying staff
Some companies were fined by the government for not paying the minimum wage to some of their employees.
Centrica, which owns British Gas, Holland & Barrett and EG Group, is among 491 employers found by the Department of Business and Trade (DBT) to have been underpaying their employees for several years.
Companies will pay fines totaling £10.2 million for breaches of the rules.
Some staff’s pay remained below the national minimum wage, or national living wage, which the government calls the minimum wage for those over 21.
In total, about 42,000 people were reimbursed by their employers after being left out of pocket, DBT said.
According to the government’s latest research on wages between 2018 and 2023, EG Group has short-changed its employees the most.
The company, which was co-founded by billionaire Issa Brothers but has since stopped running the firm, failed to pay £824,384 to 3,317 workers.
This meant that individual workers were underpaid by around £250 on average.
The company significantly reduced the size of its UK operations last year by selling its UK oilfields business and Cooplands bakeries. It currently operates Starbucks franchise stores in the United Kingdom.
Another company in the top 10 was Centrica, which owns British Gas, which failed to pay 356 workers £167,815 (an average of £460).
High street retailers Go Outdoors and Holland & Barrett were also identified by DBT in the latest naming round.
Go Outdoors came seventh on the list, owing £240,106 to 2,058 workers.
Holland & Barrett came ninth after failing to pay £153,079 to 2,551 employees.
While the national living wage was £11.44 until the end of March, it has risen to £12.21 since April.
The minimum wage for 18-20 year olds rose to £10 this year, and for apprentices and those under 18 it rose to £7.55.
In June, DBT published a list of more than 500 employers underpaying workers between 2015 and 2022, including Pizza Express, Lidl and British Airways.
Business Minister Peter Kyle said: “Every worker deserves a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work and this government will not tolerate fraudulent employers who short-change their staff.
“I know no employer wants to be on one of these lists. But our Work to Work Scheme cracks down on those who don’t follow the rules.”
A spokesperson for Holland & Barrett said: “Holland & Barrett has been selected by the government under the National Minimum Wage Nomenclature Scheme, following a historic issue dating back to 2015-2021 which is fully resolved in 2022.
“This was not intentional underpayment. The issue arose from outdated practices such as requiring team members to wear certain footwear, free training completed at home and time spent preparing for shifts at our Burton distribution facility.
“All debts totaling approximately £150,000 over the six-year period were repaid in full once identified and we acted quickly to upgrade processes and systems.
“While we respect the transparency of the plan, we are disappointed that the naming occurred three years after the issue was resolved.”
EG Group, Centrica and Go Outdoors have been contacted for comment.
