The NLW rate applies to workers aged 25 and over. This latest increase will see the hourly minimum pay rate rise from £7.20 to £7.50 from the 3rd April 2017 an increase of approximately 4%.
The move takes the NLW that bit closer to the government’s target of an hourly rate of £9 by 2020. In real terms, the increase means that a full-time worker in the UK currently on the NLW will see their annual earnings increase by more than £500 a year. Clearly, this is good news for lower paid workers but many employers are concerned about the impact on staffing costs.
For workers under the age of 25 (and those on apprenticeship schemes) the National Minimum Wage (NMW) still applies. This NMW rate is also increasing from April albeit not by as much.
The National Minimum Wage increases are as follows:
Age 21-24 £7.05 – an extra 10p an hour
Age 18-20: £5.60 – an extra 5p an hour
Under 18: £4.05 – an extra 5p an hour
Apprentice: £3.50 – an extra 10p an hour
As a direct result of the increases to the NMW and the NLW, we will be raising our minimum hourly rate for our workers. This is to ensure that we can continue to pay the NMW or NLW together with holiday pay, ERNI etc.
Our minimum hourly rates will rise from April 2017 to:
£8.72 for workers under 25
£9.30 for workers aged 25 and over
These increases will affect all payments made by Exchequer from 14th April 2017 onwards. If this affects you or your workers please get in touch.
