The Minimum Wage

For 2013 we have updated our advice about the Minimum Wage.

Anyone who is defined as a ‘Worker’ – click here (including Employees and Agency Workers) is entitled to the minimum wage (NMW) - you do not need a written contract to be eligible.

If you are an Intern or considering an Internship see our Interns article here.

If you a Care Worker please see our new article here about your entitlements to the National Minimum Wage.

There is a Government Helpline 0800 917 2368 and a website that offers more advice and information -  http://www.nmw.direct.gov.uk/index.html
See our 2011 update on how successful the National Minimum Wage has been! and our 2013 article on more NMW confusion!

The minimum wage is a legal right that covers almost all workers above compulsory school leaving age. There are different minimum wage rates for different age groups of workers as follows:
  • The main rate for workers aged 21 and over from 1 October 2012 is £6.19 per hour (rising to £6.31 on 1st October 2013).
  • The development rate for 18-20 year olds is £4.98 per hour from 1 October 2011 (this did not increase in October 2012, but will increase to £5.03 on 1st October 2013).
  • Apprentices under 19 or in their first 12 months of apprenticeship must be paid a minimum of £2.65 per hour from 1st October 2012 (rising to £2.68 on 1st October 2013.  See our Guide to Apprenticeships here.

In June 2008 the English High Court ruled that tips/gratuities/service charges (not paid through the employer’s payroll) cannot count towards the minimum wage and this will become law on 1st October 2009. To see a list of those excluded from the Minimum Wage click here – http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Employment/Employees/TheNationalMinimumWage/DG_175114

For details about the Living Wage see our Article here.

 

The National Minimum wage must be paid for all the time when you are:

  • at work when required to be working (even if work is not possible because for example, machinery breaks down, materals have not arrived, work is not available)
  • when you are on standby or on call time at your place of work
  • travelling on business during normal working hours – you should be paid for all travel time in connection with your job (not to or from home to work) including travelling from one assignment to another (except if you are on a rest break).  This includes waiting to meet someone in connection with work.
  • training (or travelling to training) during your normal working hours
  • If you are employed on ‘time work’  (you are paid an hourly rate in relation to the time you work) – you should receive the NMW for all the time when you are at work working, or awake and working during ‘sleeping time’ at work (which is time when you are allowed to sleep as arranged with your Employer, who provides suitable facilities for you to do so at or near your work place).
  • If you are employed on ‘salaried work’ (you are paid an annual salary for set hours but your hours may vary) – you should receive the NMW for all the time when you are at work working or awake and working during ‘sleeping time’ at work (see definition above).
  • People who are paid on commission (who are paid entirely or partly on the basis of sales or deals made) or on output work/piecework (who are paid according to the amount they produce) must still be paid at least the national minimum wage.  These Workers do not have to paid the minimum wage for each hour worked, but they must be paid the minimum wage, on average, for the time worked in their pay ‘reference’ period.  This ‘reference’ period is the period of time a worker’s wage is actually calculated, e.g. on a weekly or monthly basis, but cannot be longer than one calendar month.
  • If you are employed in ‘unmeasured work’ (work that is not covered by any of the other 3 categories above – time; salaries, commission/outwork), so work, carrying out contractual duties for a flat rate, e.g. a home carer who lives and works in a clients home before having a break.   Determining what hours you should receive the NMW is difficult unless you are employed on a ‘daily average hours agreement’, which is a written agreement that determines the average number of daily hours the worker is likely to spend on their duties – and for these hours the NMW should be paid.  Workers who have entered into a ‘daily hours agreement’ do not have to paid the minimum wage for each hour worked, but they must be paid the minimum wage, on average, for the time worked in their pay ‘reference’ period.  This ‘reference’ period is the period of time a worker’s wage is actually calculated, e.g. on a weekly or monthly basis, but cannot be longer than one calendar month.  Where a Worker has not entered into a ‘daily hours agreement’ but is employed in unmeasured work, their Employer must record the hours they work during the pay reference period and pay them for every hour worked.
  • From 1st January 2011 an amendment to this law disallows Employers’ schemes that allow part of a workers pay to be replaced with expenses payments for travel which would mean this part of their pay was outside of the pay counted for national minimum wage purposes.

For information about what happens when your Employer declares ‘short-time’ working click here.

The National Minimum wage does not need to be paid for time when you are:

  • being paid less than your normal pay, e.g. if you get half pay while on sick leave
  • on any unpaid leave your Employer allows you to take
  • taking industrial action
  • on-call at home or at another location, but not at work and not working (unless you are actually working from home/the other location during this on-call time or are called out to attend work during this time).
  • travelling between work and home or work and home (even if you return home during the working day, between ‘appointments’)
  • traveling between home and work if you are going to a place that is not your normal place of employment (i.e. you do not get the NMW for any additional travelling time in these circumstances).
  • a Worker who lives in their Employers home and shares in the household chores and leisure activities may not be entitled to the NMW if they are living with and being treated as part of the family.

N.B. Please note that the law relating to whether the NMW needs to be paid during ‘sleeping’ time whilst on-call and not working is complex  and case law is changing constantly.  Therefore please do not rely on our advice for your individual circumstances; it is guidance only and cannot be taken as an authoritative interpretation of the law.  In 2012 an important case at the Employment Appeals Tribunal confirmed what previous case law had described – that during a sleeping night-shift, only the hours spent awake and working will count towards a workers National Minimum Wage – details are here.

The pay that should be taken into account when calculating your average hourly rate of pay is:

  • total gross pay (basic salary, any bonus or commission or incentive payments).
  • certain ‘benefits in kind’ can be taken into account, this includes where your Employer provides you with accommodation.  The NMW may be ‘offset’ by some of your accommodations value.  From 1st October 2011 this is  £4.73 per day (or £33.11 per week) – rising to £4.82 from 1st October 2012.  For more details about how this works please see the Direct Gov page here.

However, any premiums that are paid for overtime or shift work does generally NOT count towards calculating your salary for the NMW and meals, fuel or car allowances/lease car costs do not count towards the NMW calculation.

The Government run a Pay and Work Rights Helpline which can advise you about the NMW – on 0800 917 2368.

Overtime:

  • There is no legal right to pay for working extra hours.
  • There is no legal right to extra pay for working extra hours.
  • However, if your contract guarantees paid overtime then you should be paid for this.  If your contract does not mention the exact rate to be paid then a ‘reasonable’ rate for the overtime should be paid.  If your contract does not mention a right to be paid for overtime then there is no such right to be paid, unless an oral promise has been made.
  • Your average pay must not be below the minimum wage (above).
  • Some Employers may offer you ‘time off in lieu’ instead of pay for overtime.
  • Overtime worked may or may not be taken into account when calculating holiday pay (see our Working Time Regulations Guide for more information) or paid maternity, paternity or adoption leave – it will depend whether overtime is specified in your contract of employment.
  • You only need to work overtime if your contact includes it and you should not work more than 48 hours per week (see Working Time Regulations Guide).
  • Your Employer cannot stop you working overtime if your contract guarantees it.
  • There are special rules for Sunday working – see our Workline guide and this Direct Gov page.

Equal Pay:

For details on Equal Pay please see our Guide to the Equality Act 2010 here.

 

Unpaid Work Experience/Interns:

The minimum wage legislation can make unpaid work experience/internships a grey area, as anyone defined as a ‘worker’ is entitled to a minimum wage.  Government guidelines say that if someone is taken on solely as a ‘volunteer’ for the reason of giving them skills/training, rather than in a normal employee-employer relationship, then this can be unpaid – as long as they have no set hours, are under no obligation to perform the work and can come and go freely.

  • For further details about Internships/work experience and whether they should be paid or not see our Interns article here.
  • Students doing work experience as part of a higher or further education course are not entitled to the minimum wage if the work experience they undertake is for under a years duration.
  • Skillset have published guidelines for work experience placements in the TV industry; more details of how the national minimum wage applies (and other useful information for employers and those on work experience placements) is contained in these guidelines at Annex A: http://www.skillset.org/uploads/pdf/asset_9268.pdf?1
  • ACAS, Skillset and PACT recommend that unpaid work experience should never be longer than for four weeks.

Workers under 18 -  For more useful information look at www.bbc.co.uk/radio1

Image by GirlReporter

If you work in the UK Media Industries and have a question about this or any other topic, please e-mail us at workline@freelanceadvisor.co.uk

If you are an Employer and need ongoing professional help with any staff/freelance issues then talk to us at The HR Kiosk (click here) - a Human Resources Consultancy for small businesses – you can retain us for as much time as you need.

Please note that the advice given on this website and by our Advisors is guidance only and cannot be taken as an authoritative or current interpretation of the law. It can also not be seen as specific advice for individual cases. Please also note that there are differences in legislation in Northern Ireland.