On April 1st the minimum wage in the UK is going to rise. The changes will come into force on 1 April and will affect every wage rate. Everything you need to know and where to find further advice is detailed below.
The Changes:
- The National Living Wage (NLW), the rate for all workers aged 21 and above, will rise by 6.7% from £11.44 to £12.21 per hour.
- The National Minimum Wage (NMW), which is for all workers aged 18-20, will rise by 16.3% from £8.60 to £10.00 per hour.
- For all apprentices and workers aged 16-17, the minimum wage will increase by 18% from £6.40 to £7.55 per hour.
This means that an employee working 37.5 hours a week on the National Living Wage will see their monthly salary increase by £125.46 and their yearly gross wage rise by £1,505.54.
Understanding the Different Wage Rates:
It can be hard to get your head around the different minimum wage names and rates. Here’s a quick explanation.
- National Living Wage (NLW) – a minimum wage rate for all workers aged 21 and over. It was introduced in 2016 and is reviewed annually by the government.
- National Minimum Wage (NMW) – the legal minimum hourly rate that workers in the UK are entitled to, regardless of the size of the employer. This applies to both apprentices and all those ages 16 to 20. See above the exact rates for each category.
- UK Real Living Wage – a voluntary hourly rate calculated annually by the Living Wage Foundation, a charity organization. It is a completely voluntary salary benchmark that employers can sign up to. There are currently 14,000 employers in the UK that provide the Real Living Wage rate to employees.
The Government has said that these changes are part of their long-term goal to merge the NMW and NLW into a single adult wage.
It is essential for employers to be aware of the changes to avoid accidental breaches of the new rates, as well as for employees to make sure that they are being paid exactly what they are entitled to. This is especially true when the rates change, a period when salary underpayment is more common.
