The Government has announced new National Minimum Wage (NMW) rates that will apply from 1 October 2009.
For workers aged 22 and over, the rate will increase from £5.73 to £5.80 an hour. The rate for 18- to 21-year-olds will rise from £4.77 to £4.83 and for 16- and 17-year-olds the rate will increase from £3.53 an hour to £3.57.
The accommodation offset will rise from £4.46 per day to £4.51 from 1 October 2009.
In addition to the rate changes, the Government has accepted the recommendation of the Low Pay Commission (LPC) that the adult rate of the NMW should be extended to 21-year-olds. This will be implemented from October 2010.
The LPC has also recommended that information on employers who have shown a wilful disregard for NMW legislation should be publicly available. The Government has committed itself to developing proposals to achieve this, taking into account the practical issues involved.
The Government will also consider the LPC’s proposal that a minimum wage be introduced for apprentices and will respond in full to this when it sets the LPC’s remit for 2010.
The former Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (now the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills) has already announced that the NMW Regulations are to be changed so that tips and service charges can no longer be used to make up staff salaries to the minimum legal level. This change will take effect in October 2009.