EMPLOYERS who broke the law by failing to pay the the statutory minimum wage owe at least £2.1 million to the thousands of workers they cheated, a report revealed today.

But of the 6,500 bosses found to have ripped off their staff by underpaying them, only six have been prosecuted.

Employers named by the government include retail giant John Lewis, which said it was “surprised and disappointed” to be on the list released by the Department for Business.

Other organisations in the report include Sheffield United, Oldham Athletic, Crewe, Charlton Athletic and Portsmouth football clubs, as well as The Body Shop International, Worcestershire Cricket Club and Enterprise Rent A Car.

Labour criticised the government’s lack of commitment to enforcing the minimum wage, saying that employers can flout the law with little fear of consequences.

HM Revenue and Customs said that, in investigations covering the last 10 years, it had identified more than 34,000 workers who are owed unpaid wages.

Almost half of the employers named made wrongful deductions from workers’ wages, including for uniforms and expenses, while 30 per cent failed to pay workers for all the time they had worked, such as overtime, and 19 per cent paid the incorrect apprenticeship rate.

Shadow employment rights and protections secretary Andy McDonald said: “The government isn’t doing nearly enough to crack down on companies which pay under the national minimum wage.

“Just six employers have been prosecuted for paying employees less than the minimum wage in the last six years, despite more than 6,500 breaches having been found.

“Laws protecting workers aren’t worth the paper they are written on if they are not enforced, but weak employment rights and a lack of enforcement action leaves too many working people vulnerable to this exploitation.”

TUC head of economics Kate Bell said: “Minimum-wage workers have been at the heart of the pandemic and deserve a decent wage of at least £10 an hour.

“But these cases show many workers aren’t even being paid the legal minimum, with household name employers flouting their responsibility to properly pay staff — and they are likely to be just the tip of an underpayment iceberg.

“The government should step up inspections to catch every employer that underpays staff.”

The legal minimum wage stands at £8.91 an hour, though it is lower for workers aged under 23.