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Writer's pictureTrisha Amable

Two years in are you paying the National Minimum wage and Living Wage



We at Girlfridayz received an SMS message from the Government informing us The National Minimum Wage and Living Wage increased in April. Did you see an increase in your pay? Search National Minimum Wage to find out more.

Well the answer to this burning question is NO the reason is we are self-employed limited company we are not entitled to it. As when you are self-employed you are not entitled to it but if you have one employee they will be entitled to get paid the National Minimum Wage and Living Wage if they are 16 and over.

In 2016 the gov on the 1st April introduce the National Minimum Wage and the Living Wage at £7.20 for 25 yrs old and over and 21-24 got £7.05 but 18-20 only got £5.60 and under 18 £4.05 leaving apprentice at £3.30

The intention was to increase the National Minimum Wage and the Living Wage yearly but it did not materialised yearly I show why we saying that below.

The following rates were for the National Living Wage and the National Minimum Wage from April 2016.

Year 25 + 21-24 18 - 20 under 18 Apprentice

April 17- Mar 18 £7.50 £7.05 £5.60 £4.05 £3.50

Oct 16 - Mar 17 £7.20 £6.95 £5.55 £4.00 £3.40

April 16 -Sep 16 £7.20 £6.70 £5.30 £3.87 £3.30

You can see what I saying it took two years to increase the hourly amount to be paid to an employee by their employer if they were paying them the National Minimum Wage and Living Wage and the increase was 0.30p for 25 and over, 0.10p for 21-24, 0.05p for 18-20 and under 18 but apprentice an increase of 0.10p.

The current rate for April 2018 are:

Year 25 and over 21 to 24 18 to 20 Under 18 Apprentice

April 2018 £7.83 £7.38 £5.90 £4.20 £3.70

Which mean from 1st of April 2018 your employers should have increased your pay if you are paid the National Minimum Wage and the Living Wage, it a legal requirement and if they have not done so you can asked them to do so or complaint to ACAS if you are not getting it and you are entitled to it.

Who gets the minimum wage

You must be at least school leaving age (last Friday in June of the school year you turn 16) to get the National Minimum Wage. You must be 25 or over to get the National Living Wage.

If you are working and you are below the minimum wage your contract is not legally binding but you are still entitled to the National Minimum Wage or National Living Wage. You are also entitled to the correct minimum wage if you’re:

  1. part-time

  2. casual labourers, for example someone hired for one day

  3. agency workers

  4. workers and homeworkers paid by the number of items they make

  5. apprentices

  6. trainees, workers on probation

  7. disabled workers

  8. agricultural workers

  9. foreign workers

  10. seafarers

  11. offshore workers

Apprentices

If you are an apprentice you are entitled to the apprentice rate if you’re either:

  • under 19

  • 19 or over and in the first year of your apprenticeship

If you are over 19 and have completed your first year of your apprenticeship you are entitled to the correct minimum wage for your age.

Not entitled to the minimum wage

If you fall in any of the category type below you are not entitled to the National Minimum Wage or National Living Wage:

  • self-employed people running their own business

  • company directors

  • volunteers or voluntary workers

  • workers on a government employment programme, such as the Work Programme

  • members of the armed forces

  • family members of the employer living in the employer’s home

  • non-family members living in the employer’s home who share in the work and leisure activities, are treated as one of the family and aren’t charged for meals or accommodation, for example au pairs

  • workers younger than school leaving age (usually 16)

  • higher and further education students on a work placement up to 1 year

  • workers on government pre-apprenticeships schemes

  • people on the following European Union programmes: Leonardo da Vinci, Youth in Action, Erasmus, Comenius

  • people working on a Jobcentre Plus Work trial for 6 weeks

  • share fishermen

  • prisoners

  • people living and working in a religious community

Work experience and internships

You will not get the National Minimum Wage or National Living Wage if you are:

a student doing work experience as part of a higher or further education course

of compulsory school age

  • a volunteer or doing voluntary work

  • on a government or European programme

  • work shadowing

Voluntary work

You are classed as doing voluntary work if you can only get certain limited benefits (for example reasonable travel or lunch expenses) and you are working for a:

  • charity

  • voluntary organisation or associated fund-raising body

  • statutory bod

Employers and the minimum wage

Did you know It’s a criminal offence for employers to not pay someone the National Minimum Wage or National Living Wage, or to fake payment records.

If you are an employer who discover you have paid a worker below the correct minimum wage you must pay any arrears immediately. You can use the National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage calculator to work out arrears.

The HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) officers have the right to carry out checks at any time and ask to see payment records. They can also investigate employers if a worker complains to them.

If the HMRC finds that an employer has not been paying the correct rates, any arrears must be paid back immediately. There will also be a fine and offenders might be named by the government.

It’s the employer’s responsibility to keep records proving that they are paying the minimum wage - most employers use their payroll records as proof. All records must be kept for 3 years.

Pay reference periods

A pay reference periods is usually set by how often someone is paid, for example one week, one month or 10 days. A pay reference period can’t be longer than 31 days. A worker must be paid the minimum wage, on average, for the time worked in the pay reference period.

In conclusion if you are an employer you must pay the National Minimum Wage and Living Wage if they are entitled to it. If you want you can pay them more than the minimum wage or living wage if you can afford it but you cannot pay them under the hourly rate set by the government. You must ensure that you check that your workers are entitled to the National Minimum Wage and Living Wage

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