National minimum wage

Welcome to the HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) national minimum wage pages.

Contents

Who can get the minimum wage?

Most adult workers who:

  • are working legally in the UK
  • are not genuinely self-employed
  • have a written, oral or implied contract

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Apprentices

From pay reference periods starting on or after 1 October 2006 the special rules for apprentices will be extended to apprentices aged over 25. This will mean that:

  • apprentices under age 19 will not qualify for the national minimum wage
  • apprentices over age 19 and in the first 12 months of their apprenticeship will not qualify for the national minimum wage.

What are the current rates of the national minimum wage?

There are three levels of minimum wage, and the rates from 1 October 2009 are:

  • £5.80 per hour for workers aged 22 years and older
  • a development rate of £4.83 per hour for workers aged 18-21 inclusive
  • £3.57 per hour for all workers under the age of 18, who are no longer of compulsory school age

Development rate

The development rate for workers age 22 and over was abolished for pay reference periods starting on or after 1 October 2006. From that date, all workers aged 22 and over who qualify for the national minimum wage will be entitled to the main rate of national minimum wage. This applies even where the worker was previously in receipt of the development rate for those aged 22 and over and had been receiving that rate for less than six months.

Compulsory school age

In England and Wales: a person is no longer of compulsory school age after the last Friday of June of the school year in which their 16th birthday occurs.

In Scotland: pupils whose 16th birthday falls between 1 March and 30 September may not leave before the 31 May of that year. Pupils aged 16 on or between 1 October and the last day of February may not leave until the start of the Christmas holidays in that school year.

In Northern Ireland: a person is no longer of compulsory school age after the 30th June of the school year in which their 16th birthday occurs.

Accommodation offset

The daily rate of the accommodation offset is £4.51 (£31.57 per week) for each day that accommodation is provided.

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What is HMRC involvement with the national minimum wage?

The role of HMRC is to enforce the national minimum wage. We do that by responding to complaints made about employers suspected of not paying the minimum wage, and by visiting a sample of employers about whom no complaints have been made, to check that all employers meet their obligations under the National Minimum Wage Act.

How does HMRC enforce the law?

There are two key aspects to our approach to enforcement:

  • a telephone helpline
  • a network of 16 teams of national minimum wage compliance officers

What can I do if I want to make a complaint about an employer not paying the minimum wage?

There are a number of ways in which you can make a complaint about the non-payment of the minimum wage:

  • you can download a complaint form (PDF 219K) and post this to the address on the form
  • you can also call the helpline if you want to make a complaint about an employer who you suspect is not paying the minimum wage
  • you can complete an online complaint form and send this to us from this web site

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