New National Minimum Wage Rates – 1 April 2019

New National Minimum Wage (NMW) and National Living Wage (NLW) Rates take effect from 1 April.

	Old Rate	New Rate	Increase (%)


25 years +	£7.83	£8.21	4.9%
21-24 years	£7.38	£7.70	4.3%
18-20 years	£5.90	£6.15	4.2%
16-17 years	£4.20	£4.35	3.6%
Apprentice rate	£3.70	£3.90	5.4%

The national minimum wage (NMW) is a prescribed minimum hourly rate of pay which employers must legally pay to most of their workers. The legislation which underpins the NMW is highly technical in nature and many employers have unintentionally fallen foul of the rules and have, in addition to being hit with sizeable financial penalties, have been named and shamed for underpaying their workers.

Employers must keep sufficient records to establish that workers have received the NMW and it will be presumed that the worker has not received the NMW unless the employer can prove to the contrary.

The NMW is enforced by HMRC. The enforcement measures available to HMRC include service of notices of underpayment, civil penalties, “naming and shaming”, recovery of underpayments through tribunals or civil courts, and criminal prosecution. HMRC’s policy on using these measures is set out in BEIS: National Minimum Wage Law: Enforcement.

If you are unsure about what records you need to keep and/or how long you need to keep them don’t hesitate to contact us.