A family law firm is among the 524 businesses publicly chastised by the government for failing to pay the national minimum wage. Austin Kemp Solicitors said the 'isolated incident' six years ago was immediately rectified.

The latest annual list, published by the Department for Business and Trade, features household names such as Rank Group Gaming Division and Estee Lauder Cosmetics Limited alongside car-wash operators and day nurseries. It is headed by Staffline Recruitment Limited, which failed to pay £5,125,270.93 to 36,767 workers. 

Austin Kemp Solicitors, which has 37 offices nationally, is ranked 162 on the list for failing to pay £5,746.85 to one worker.

In a statement, a spokesperson said: 'As a firm, we absolutely respect and deliver minimum wage requirements. We recognise in 2018 there was an isolated incident which resulted in a failure on our part to fully comply with minimum wage regulations due to an administrative oversight. We take responsibility for this oversight, which did not align with our values as a firm. 

'As soon as the issue was brought to our attention, we undertook immediate action to correct it by ensuring the employee impacted was fairly compensated according to the minimum wage regulations.

'Our employees are our greatest asset, and we have since implemented more rigorous payroll controls and compliance training to guarantee the prevention of any recurrence.'