Minimum wage rose on 1 April

Increas­es to the Nation­al Liv­ing Wage and Nation­al Min­i­mum Wage took effect from 1 April.

From April 2025, the NLW will increase by 6.7% and the NMW by as much as 18% depend­ing on the cat­e­go­ry of the work­er.

The NMW is the min­i­mum amount per hour work­ers are enti­tled to be paid by law. Dif­fer­ent rates apply depend­ing on the cat­e­go­ry of the work­er.

The appren­tice­ship rate applies to appren­tices under 19 or 19 and over in the first year of appren­tice­ship. The NLW applies to those aged 21 and over.

Peter Bick­ley, Tech­ni­cal Man­ag­er – Employ­er Tax­es, ICAEW, said:

‘Although the rise in the min­i­mum wage will be wel­comed by many work­ers, it presents a fur­ther chal­lenge for employ­ers already fac­ing sig­nif­i­cant changes from April 2025, not least the increase in the rate of, and sec­ondary thresh­old for employ­ers’ Nation­al Insur­ance con­tri­bu­tions, albeit that the big­ger employ­ment allowance should help small employ­ers.

‘Employ­ers must ensure that they con­tin­ue to com­ply with the require­ments as it is a crim­i­nal offence not to pay some­one the min­i­mum wage.’

Inter­net link: GOV.UK ICAEW