National Minimum Wage is the minimum legal hourly rate a business must pay an employee in the UK.
Constantly under review, the National Minimum Wage (NMW) adjusts each year in line with the cost of living. The goal is to safeguard employees from unfairly low compensation when in:
- Full-time employment
- Part-time employment
- Casual employment
- Agency employment
- … or in some cases as an apprentice
From April 2024, NMW will increase by almost 10% from £10.42 to £11.44 per hour.
The change, which sees an increase above the current rate of inflation, was announced in November 2023 in a bid to benefit over 2 million low-wage workers across the country.
The National Minimum Wage (NMW) in the UK is the minimum pay per hour most workers under the age of 25 are entitled to by law. It is dependent on your age and whether you’re an apprentice. It’s set annually by the Government, based on recommendations by an independent body known as the Low Pay Commission.
The National Living Wage (NLW) is the minimum pay per hour most workers aged 25 and over are entitled to by law, when not in the first year of an apprenticeship. The NLW was simply a 2016 renaming of the NMW for over 25s by the Conservative government, and was never truly linked to the cost of living.
As an employer, it is your responsibility to adhere to, and implement the new National Minimum Wage rates - ensuring you are paying all applicable employees according to their age and employment status.
Non-compliance of NMW payment is taken very seriously. Last year, the HMRC named 200+ companies who had breached NMW and received fines totalling around £7 million.
The table below outlines the new wage rates in the UK.
For more informatin about the new National Minimum Wage please click here