Millions of Low-Paid workers Set for Pay Rise as National Minimum Wage is increased

The new National Minimum Wage will today come into effect and will mark the biggest ever rise since its introduction in 1999.

How much more will workers get?

As of Wednesday (April 1, 2020), workers who receive the National Living Wage will be given a pay increase of 6.2 per cent.

This means the current hourly wage of £8.21 will rise to £8.72 for workers aged over 25, amounting to a pay rise of £930 annually.

The raise will also see younger workers receive a boost to their wages of between 4.6 and 6.5 per cent, depending on their age.

Workers aged between 21 and 24 will see a rise of 6.5 per cent, increasing their pay from £7.70 per hour to £8.20.

Wages for those aged between 18 and 20 will rise from £6.14 per hour to £6.45, under 18s wages will rise from £4.35 per hour to £4.55, and apprentice wages will rise from £3.90 per hour to £4.14.

Who qualifies for Minimum Wage?

To receive the National Minimum Wage, workers must be at least of school leaving age.

Contracts for payments below the minimum wage are not legally binding, and workers are still entitled to the National Minimum Wage or National Living Wage.

Workers are also entitled to the minimum wage if they are:

• part-time
• casual labourers, for example someone hired for one day
• agency workers
• workers and homeworkers paid by the number of items they make
• apprentices
• trainees, workers on probation
• disabled workers
• agricultural workers
• foreign workers
• seafarers
• offshore workers

Apprentices are entitled to the apprentice minimum wage rate if they are either under the age of 19, or they are 19 or over and in the first year of their apprenticeship.

Apprentices over the age of 19 who have completed the first year of their apprenticeship are entitled to the correct minimum wage for their age.