19 March 2026
Today, 19 March 2026, The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) has published a further ‘Naming Round’ announcement regarding National Minimum Wage (NMW).
This round of naming and shaming sees over £7.3 million being repaid to workers and over £12.6 million in penalties for the almost 400 employers found to have broken NMW rules.
While fines can be a strong deterrent, it's important you understand the issues that can cause a breach to happen, as they're not always intentional. Alongside the naming and shaming list, DBT publishes a list of the reasons for the highlighted breaches, this can be an excellent resource to see what areas need special attention.
The educational bulletin posted alongside the announcement highlights the below as the most common reasons for error:
- Deductions or payments that take pay below the minimum wage
- Unpaid working time takes pay below the minimum wage
- Failure to apply the correct rate to apprentices
- Failure to pay the uprated rate
"The CIPP works closely with the Low Pay Commission to facilitate Think Tanks each year as we know how important compliance and ongoing changes in this area are. Our members have raised concerns of NMW increases and their impact on pay differentials and salary sacrifice arrangements, as well as the need for simple and understandable guidance and legislation in order to comply with the law.”
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