Minimum Wage

Also known as the National Minimum Wage, the NMW is the minimum amount of pay employers are lawfully permitted to pay their workers. The minimum wage has different rates for different ages (no this does not contravene the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006). Rates are split in to three bands - 16-17 year olds, 18-21 year olds and 22+.

The NMW applies to workers, not just employees. This means that some people who are self employed, at least for tax purposes, such as building contracters working under CIS arrangements, may benefit from the right to be paid the NMW.

The NMW is reviewed every year and changes in October. Current rates and allowances can be found here.

A limited reduction in the rate of the NMW applies to employers who provide employees with accomodation. However, the reduction is generally less than the cost of providing the accomodation. This is known as accomodation allowance and the rates are available from the Berr website.