Sports Direct and its employment agencies Best Connection and Transline have been named and shamed by the government for paying workers less than the legal minimum wage, underpaying them by nearly £1m...

Primark is the third biggest offender in value terms and the biggest in terms of number of staff, after it underpaid 9,735 workers by £230,000.

The cut-price clothing chain’s underpayment relates to a demand that all staff wear black clothing...

A Primark spokesperson said: “The average amount paid back per employee was £23.75 and relates to a workwear policy that was changed in 2016.”... 

A spokesperson for Sports Direct said: “This matter relates to the historical situation in our warehouse that was widely publicised in 2016, for which we apologised at the time.

“We cooperated fully with HMRC to make back payments to Sports Direct staff who were affected. We are committed to treating all our people with dignity and respect, and we pay above the national minimum wage.

“The company is committed to the national minimum wage and has apologised to the employees concerned. It has also reviewed its procedures in order to avoid this situation reoccurring.”