Know the facts about minimum wage.
The national minimum wage was introduced in the United Kingdom on 1 April 1999. All workers 16 years old and above are entitled to minimum wage. There are very few exceptions. It does not matter whether you work full-time or part-time, you have equal entitlement to at least minimum wage. The same goes for casual workers, agency workers etc. There is no upper age limit to gain minimum wage in employment.
The few exemptions include genuinely self-employed individuals, officeholders, non-employee directors, the armed forces, share fisherman, volunteers, prisoners, individuals working for the family business and workers living as part of a family e.g. au pairs.
Individuals who are working on some specified Government schemes at pre-apprenticeship levels are not entitled to national minimum wage either. Trainee teachers and students on placements involving higher education sandwich courses are also not paid minimum wage, as long as the placement is no longer than one year.
At the present time there are four rates for minimum wage. These were issued from the 1st October 2012. These include:
- 21 years old and over entitled to minimum £6.19 per hour
- 18 years old – 20 years old entitled to minimum £4.98 per hour
- 16 years old and 17 years old entitled to minimum £3.68 per hour
- Apprentices aged 16-18 years old entitled to minimum £.2.65 per hour
From the 1st of October 2013 this will change to:
- 21 years old and over entitled to minimum £6.31 per hour
- 18 years old – 20 years old entitled to minimum £5.03 per hour
- 16 years old and 17 years old entitled to minimum £3.72 per hour
- Apprentices aged 16-18 years old entitled to minimum £.2.68 per hour
Calculations of minimum wage must consider additional elements which can include profit or performance related pay, as well as incentives and bonuses. £4.82 per day may also be issued for living accommodation for an individual worker.
There are different types of hours workers undertaken depending on the type of work an individual worker does. Payment can be different according to these hours. These include:
- Time work: paid for a set number of hours or set period of time
- Salaried hours work: paid and contracted to work set number of basic hours annually
- Output work: paid according to number of sales, deals made or items produced
- Unmeasured work: without set hours, paid average number of hours
Workers, employees and employers should keep sufficient records of hours and payment. Employers should be able to prove they have been complying to the rules of national minimum wage. Payslips don’t have to be provided but for good industrial relations it is suggested that they are issued so workers know they are being paid minimum wage.