National minimum wage
How much is the National Minimum Wage?
There are different levels of National Minimum Wage, depending on the age of the worker. The rates from 1 October 2007 are as follows:
- adults (which means people aged 22 and over) receive the full rate of £5.52 an hour
- a 'development rate' of £4.60 an hour is paid to workers aged 18 to 21 inclusive
- young people (those older than school leaving age and younger than 18; you're under school leaving age until the end of summer term of the school year in which you turn 16) receive £3.40 an hour
Apprentices under the age of 19 are not entitled to the National Minimum Wage. Apprentices who are 19 or over and in the first 12 months of their apprenticeship are not entitled to the National Minimum Wage.
New National Minimum Wage rates from 1 October 2008
The rates from 1 October 2008 will be:
- adults (which means people aged 22 and over), £5.73 an hour
- workers aged 18-21, £4.77 an hour - the 'development rate'
- young people (those older than school leaving age and younger than 18; you're under school leaving age until the end of summer term of the school year in which you turn 16), £3.53 an hour
Who can get the National Minimum Wage?
Almost everyone who works in the UK is legally entitled to be paid the National Minimum Wage. This is the case even if an employer asks a worker to sign an employment contract at a lower rate of pay. It isn't necessary to be in full-time employment, or to work at an employer's premises. For example, you're entitled to receive the minimum wage if you're:
- employed by an agency
- a homeworker
- a part-time worker
- a casual worker
- a pieceworker
- a worker on a short-term contract
However, you are not entitled to receive the minimum wage if you are:
- a worker under school leaving age
- genuinely self-employed
- some apprentices
- an au pair
- in the armed services
- a voluntary worker