Two EFL Championship clubs exposed for paying staff below minimum wage | OneFootball

In a shocking new revelation, two Championship clubs have been named and shamed for failing to pay certain staff members the minimum wage

The EFL Championship has become an increasingly lucrative division, with clubs intensifying their spending power in pursuit of boosted revenue and, ultimately, promotion to the Premier League - but that hasn't prevented two second-tier outfits from paying staff members less than the minimum wage

We've seen no shortage of stadium expansions and broken transfer records, with Ipswich Town utilising the Premier League's generous three-year mandated parachute payments package upon relegation to complete the division's most expensive deal in history by bringing Norweigan starlet Sindre Walle Egeli to Portman Road for a reported £17.5 million figure.

On the flip side, the ever-increasing spending sprees throughout the division, both on and off-the-pitch, now means that clubs are regularly recording steep financial losses, with questions to be asked surrounding the long-term viability of how second-tier outfits decide to operate economically.

Nonetheless, you would expect that all employees at clubs would be paid fairly in light of their employers' financial muscle, with Sheffield Wednesday making headlines and later suffering fatal points deductions for missed payments to both playing and non-playing staff under now-ex owner Dejphon Chansiri on several occasions last year.

That isn't always the case, though, and in a shocking new revelation, it has emerged that two Championship clubs are paying staff members beneath the minimum wage - and they have been exposed for it...

Charlton Athletic and Norwich City exposed for paying staff less than the minimum wage

The two Championship clubs in question have both formerly played in the Premier League at different stages in their respective history. Now, however, they both share the shame of being exposed for neglecting to pay certain staff members minimum wage.

Those clubs have been named as Norwich City and Charlton Athletic, who were both listed in the Government's recent reveal of penalties to 389 employers throughout the United Kingdom for not paying an adequate salary to employees.

The list determined monies owed and, on that basis, Norwich ranked 12th of all employers.

This is because the Canaries, who are currently enjoying an on-pitch resurgence under Philippe Clement but have not played top-flight football since 2022 and are no longer receiving parachute payments, failed to pay £99,021.76 to 1,152 workers in the most recent financial year.

Charlton, meanwhile, have endured financial difficulties in years gone by and only returned to the Championship via the League One play-offs in May of last year, having been outside of the Premier League for nearly two decades.

The Addicks' owed monies and workforce are both not as sizeable as those of Norwich, which is perhaps unsurprising, although the South London-based side still rank 40th of nearly 400 employees by not paying a total of £17,983.18 to 45 workers.

Norwich City and Charlton Athletic must do better as financial expose revealed

It's disappointing to read that two clubs in the Championship have failed to pay certain staff members the national minimum wage, which, considering the levels of money that they're receiving each year, simply should not be the case.

Both Norwich and Charlton shelled out decent sums of money in the summer transfer window, yet the inability to even fork out the minimum wage for non-playing staff is a real shame and highlights just how undervalued those who operate in myriad day-to-day roles behind the scenes are.

It shouldn't be that way, as a successful footballing operation is borne from a cohesive effort of everybody around the club as opposed to simply the playing squad and senior leadership figureheads, and it's clear that Norwich and Charlton need to do much more to show that moving forwards.