More than 5,000 low-paid workers in the UK have received a £1.8 million Christmas bonus after a government crackdown on employers who fail to pay the minimum wage.
One fruit and veg stall worker in London received £4,800 from her own father, who had been mistakenly paying her the 1999 minimum wage rates to help in his business.
Two apprentice hairdressers in Cambridge got more than £1,200 in arrears after their employer failed to start paying them the minimum wage when they turned 18.
And a nursery in Exeter was forced to pay a worker who looked after children £1,404 in back pay.
