The Government has announced that the National Living Wage will go up, from £7.20 per hour, to £7.50 with the current National Minimum Wage (NMW) for those under the age of 25 still applies.

Introduced in 2016, the rate, which changes every April, is:

  • £7.50 per hour - 25 yrs old and over
  • £7.05 per hour - 21-24 yrs old
  • £5.60 per hour - 18-20 yrs old
  • £4.05 per hour - 16-17 yrs old
  • £3.50 for apprentices under 19 or 19 or over who are in the first year of apprenticeship.
The new pay rate will only affect someone's pay from the first full pay reference period after that date.

For example:

If the Pay Reference Period starts on the 19 March - 19 April- the pay between the 1 April - 18 April will be based on the NMW rates- The allocated pay from the 19 April - 19 May would be at the new NLW rate because this is the first full pay reference period after the 1 April.

The same rules apply when a monthly paid employee reaches the age of 25. For example if the employees birthday falls on the 25 May and the next pay reference period starts on 10 June, the employee is entitled to receive the NLW pay rate on the 10 June and not their birthday.

There are a number of people who are not entitled to the NMW/NLW.

  • Self-employed people.
  • Volunteers or voluntary workers.
  • Company directors.
  • Family members, or people who live in the family home of the employer who undertake household tasks.
All other workers including pieceworkers, home workers, agency workers, commission workers, part-time workers and casual workers must receive at least the NMW.