More than 600 members of the New Zealand Defence Force were paid less than the minimum wage this year.
The minimum wage went up to $20 an hour in April.
But 203 members of the regular forces and 415 members of the territorial forces did not see their incomes rise to meet the new minimum wage. At least some were on just $19.07 an hour.
National Party defence spokesman Chris Penk said the Defence Force's parsimony was "poor form".
"It's disrespectful given what we ask of our troops," Penk said