The National Minimum Wage rates increased on the 1st of April 2020 but with everything that’s going on at the moment it was easy to miss this.
So that you’re up to speed I thought I’d post a brief summary of the changes and how they might affect you.
The hourly rates depend on the age of the employee and the new ones are:
Age Rate
- 25+ £8.72
- 21-24 £8.20
- 18-20 £6.45
- Up to18 £4.55
- Apprentice £4.15
Employees
All employees over school leaving age are entitled to the National Minimum Wage. If you are an employee over the age of 25 you will be entitled to additional 51 pence per hour in the tax year 2020-21. This is equivalent to a 6.2% pay rise and an extra £928 per year for someone working 35 hours per week.
For Apprentices the increase is 6.4%, 21-24 year olds 6.5%, 18-20 year olds 4.8% and those of you between school leaving age and 18 it is an additional 4.6%.
Employers
All employers must pay their employees at least the National Minimum Wage at the new rates as stated above and it is a criminal offence not to do so.
However, things are a bit different at the moment with COVID19 and staff being furloughed.
The Government have stated that:
‘Individuals are only entitled to the National Minimum Wage or Apprentices Minimum Wage for the hours they are working or treated as working under minimum wage rules.
This means that furloughed workers who are not working can be paid the lower of 80% of their wages or £2,500 even if, based on their usual working hours, this would be below their appropriate minimum wage.’
Please refer to GOV.UK for more details on paying the National Minimum Wage to furloughed workers.
Help and support
If you need help with the National Minimum wage, furloughed staff or any other aspect of your payroll contact me now.
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