British Gas owner Centrica (CNA.L), EG Group and Holland & Barrett are among the latest firms to be named by the government for failing to pay some of their staff the minimum wage.
The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) released a list of 491 employers that underpaid workers over several years.
They will pay a fine amounting to a combined £10.2m as a result of breaking the rules.
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, around 42,000 people have been repaid by their employers after being left out of pocket, the DBT said.
EG Group short-changed its workers the most, according to the government’s latest investigation of pay between 2018 and 2023.
The company, which was co-founded by the billionaire Issa Brothers, but who have since stepped back from leading the firm, failed to pay £824,384 to 3,317 workers.
This meant individual employees were underpaid about £250 on average.
The company has significantly reduced the size of its UK operations over the past year, selling its UK petrol forecourts business and Cooplands bakeries. It still runs Starbucks franchise stores across the UK.
Another in the top 10 was Centrica, which owns British Gas, having failed to pay £167,815 to 356 workers – amounting to about £460 on average.
High street retailers Go Outdoors and Holland & Barrett were also identified by the DBT in its latest naming round.
Go Outdoors was number seven on the list, owing £240,106 to 2,058 workers.
Holland & Barrett was ninth, having failed to pay £153,079 to 2,551 employees.