On Monday 29th October 2018, the Chancellor Philip Hammond announced the budget for the next financial year: April 2019 – March 2020. Amongst numerous areas covering things like tax, fuel, defence, healthcare, benefits and education came one that affects a huge proportion of society – those who are paid on an hourly basis. Whether you’re part time, contracting, studying, graduating or grafting, here’s five things you can say to you mates to make you look clever:
1. What is the National Living Wage?
The National Living Wage is the minimum hourly wage for people over the age of 25. It is against the law to pay people under this value, which was set at £7.83 an hour for April 2018 – March 2019. It is reviewed every year, as is the National Minimum Wage (for under 25s). To check if you receive it, click here:
https://www.gov.uk/am-i-getting-minimum-wage
2. How much is it going up?
From April 1st 2019 it will rise to £8.21 per hour. That’s a 4.9% rise, well over the current rate of inflation of 2.74% – so this is a ‘real-terms’ rise. For those working 40 hours a week, that’s an extra £790 per year. Not to be sniffed at!
3. Do under 25s get a pay rise too?
You betcha. Here’s a quick table of all the age groups (pay attention!)
| Age group | This year | Next year | % increase | Annual extra |
| Apprentices aged 19 or under / first year | £3.70 | £3.90 | 5.4% | £416 |
| 16 – 17 year olds | £4.20 | £4.35 | 3.6% | £312 |
| 18 – 20 year olds | £5.90 | £6.15 | 4.2% | £520 |
| 21 – 24 years | £7.38 | £7.70 | 4.3% | £665 |
| 25+ years | £7.38 | £8.21 | 4.9% | £790 |
4. Does this apply to everyone?
Of the 2.4 million people this affects, there are some exemptions:
- self employed
- under 16
- living and working with a family as an au pair or nanny, and not paying towards your accommodation or meals
- in the armed forces
- a volunteer or doing work experience
- a prisoner
- some trainees and interns
- some farm workers
If you’re not sure, check here:
https://worksmart.org.uk/tools/minimum-wage-calculator
5. What should I do if my employer doesn’t provide this?
According to Citizens Advice, if you’re not getting the minimum wage when you should be getting it, your employer owes you the difference between what you should have been paid and what they’ve actually been paying you.
Try having an informal chat with your employer. Ask them to explain how they’ve worked out your pay, and to tell you why they think you’re not entitled to be paid minimum wage – or why they think you’re already getting it. You could print out your result from the National Minimum Wage calculator and show them it.
If your employer agrees they’ve made a genuine mistake, ask them to pay you what you’re owed immediately. Your employer might say they give you benefits that ‘top up’ your pay rate to the minimum wage, eg they give you meals or you get to keep all your tips. You should ask for the wage instead – you’ve got the right to be paid minimum wage on top of any extra benefits like these.
If you’re not getting anywhere, you can raise a grievance where you explain why you think you haven’t been paid enough and say you want them to pay the difference.
If that doesn’t work, the final option is report them to HMRC. They’ll decide whether to investigate your employer – there’s no guarantee that they will, but they’re more likely to do so if several people who work for your employer make complaints.
It could take a long time, so it’s best not to rely on this as a way to get the money you’re owed – unless you can’t go to a tribunal. If HMRC finds your employer isn’t paying the minimum wage to people who are entitled to it, they’ll take steps to force them to do so.
