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CURRENT
NATIONAL MINIMUM WAGE RATES
The national
minimum wage is an important cornerstone of Government strategy
aimed at providing employees with decent minimum standards and
fairness in the workplace. It applies to nearly all workers
and sets hourly rates below which pay must not be allowed to
fall. It helps business by ensuring companies will be able
to compete on the basis of quality of the goods and services they
provide and not on low prices based predominantly on low rates of
pay. The rates set are based on the recommendations of the
independent Low Pay Commission.
Main
(adult) rate for workers aged 22 and over
£4.50 per hour from 1 October 2003
Development
rate for workers aged 18-21 inclusive
£3.80 per hour from 1 October 2003
NB: The development rate can also apply to workers aged 22 and above
during their first 6 months in a new job with a new employer and
who are receiving accredited training.
Changes to the National Minimum Wage
The Government has announced an increase to the National Minimum
Wage rates, which will take place in October 2004.
Main
(adult) rate for workers aged 22 and over
£4.85 per hour from 1
October 2004
Development
rate for workers aged 18-21 inclusive
£4.10 per hour from 1
October 2004
A
new rate for 16 and 17 year olds
The Government has accepted the Low Pay Commission's
recommendations for a new rate for 16 and 17 year olds (above
compulsory school leaving age).
£3.00 per hour from 1 October 2004
NB: 16 and 17 year old apprentices will be exempt from the new
young workers rate.
Fair Piece Rates
From October 2004, the Government is proposing that employers will
have to pay their workers the minimum wage for every hour they
work or a fair piece rate initially set at 100% of the minimum
wage. The rate will increase to 120% of the minimum wage in April
2005 at which point most homeworkers will receive the minimum
wage.
The Government has produced draft guidance on
proposals to introduce fair piece rates for output workers,
including homeworkers. A
partial Regulatory
Impact Assessment
(82Kb)
estimating the costs and
benefits of these proposals is also available.
TIGER
To check on
how the National Minimum Wage applies to you (or your staff),
use the TIGER interactive
website or telephone the National Minimum Wage Helpline on 0845
6000 678. This is also the number to ring if you think you are
being underpaid and wish to make a complaint. You may also email
the helpline from the Inland Revenue's NMW website. All complaints
about underpayment of the National Minimum Wage are treated in
the strictest confidence.
You may also be interested in the following:
A Regulatory Impact
Assessment
(73Kb) has been produced
which considers the impact of proposals to increase the adult and
development rates of the NMW in October 2004.
The
Government has submitted evidence
(316Kb)
to
the Low Pay Commission on the advantages and disadvantages of a minimum wage for 16 and 17 year
olds and
on the proposed uprating of the minimum wage in 2004.
The
Government response to
the Consultation
(16Kb) on proposed
amendments to the National Minimum Wage Act in the Employment
Relations Bill has been published.
The
Government published the fourth
report
(1.15Mb)
of
the Low Pay Commission, together with a written
statement to Parliament and its response to the Commission's
recommendations
(24Kb)
on
19 March 2003.
The Government produced a Regulatory
Impact Assessment
(19Kb)
to estimate the costs and benefits to the economy
of the increases in the National Minimum Wage rates in October
2003.
If you have an unanswered question on general policy you can e-mail the national
minimum wage policy team here at the DTI. However, queries about
the application of the national minimum wage or about individual
cases should be directed to the helpline.
Documents in pdf format, indicated with a
can be opened with Adobe Acrobat reader, available free of charge.
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Last updated 19 April 2004
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