Minimum wage rates
National Minimum Wage: the bands and how pay is checked
Enter your age, the hours and the gross pay of one pay period: the checker applies your band and shows the pay that counts.
Underpaid for this period by
£18
£10.62 an hour counted, against a minimum of £10.85
| Rate that applies | National Minimum Wage (18 to 20) |
| Rates in force | April 2026 to March 2027 |
| Minimum for 80 hours | £868 |
| Pay that counts | £850 |
| Same pay from 1 April 2027 | £51.60 short (£11.27 an hour) |
Rule applied: National Minimum Wage Regulations 2015, as HMRC explains them in its guidance on calculating the minimum wage. An estimate from what you enter, not a decision by HMRC or a tribunal.
The National Minimum Wage is the legal floor for hourly pay in the United Kingdom, created by the National Minimum Wage Act 1998 and applied through the National Minimum Wage Regulations 2015. It has four bands set by age and apprenticeship: since 1 April 2026, £12.71 at 21 and over (the band called the National Living Wage), £10.85 at 18 to 20, £8.00 at 16 and 17, and £8.00 for apprentices under 19 or in their first year. From 1 April 2027 the announced bands are £13.21, £11.27, £8.31 and £8.31. It covers workers, not only employees: agency staff, casual and zero hours workers, part-timers and apprentices, once they are past compulsory school age. The test is made on each pay reference period of up to a month, comparing the pay that counts with the band rate times the hours of working time.
Minimum wage per week, month and year
Legal minimum per hour
£10.85
| Rate that applies | National Minimum Wage (18 to 20) |
| Per week | £271.25 |
| Per month | £1,175.42 |
| Per year (52 weeks) | £14,105 |
Rates and rules read by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Method
The bands since 2024
| Band | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 | From April 2027 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21 and over | £11.44 | £12.21 | £12.71 | £13.21 |
| 18 to 20 | £8.60 | £10.00 | £10.85 | £11.27 |
| 16 to 17 | £6.40 | £7.55 | £8.00 | £8.31 |
| Apprentice | £6.40 | £7.55 | £8.00 | £8.31 |
Older bands, with the National Living Wage at 23 and at 25, are on the history page. The band is fixed by your age on the first day of the pay reference period, so a birthday in the middle of a period changes nothing until the next one starts.
Who must be paid it
The Act protects "workers": people who work under a contract to do the work personally, whether an employment contract or not. That includes agency workers, casual staff, people on zero hours contracts, homeworkers, part-timers and apprentices. It does not cover the genuinely self-employed, company directors without a contract of employment, volunteers, or children of compulsory school age. Some people are excluded by the regulations even when they work, such as students on a placement that their course requires for up to a year. The eligibility page lists each case and the internships page deals with interns.
A contract cannot switch the right off. Under section 49 of the Act, a clause where you agree to less than the minimum, or to be treated as self-employed when you work as a worker, has no effect on what you are owed.
How a pay period is checked
The method set out in HMRC's guidance on calculating the minimum wage has three steps.
- Pay that counts. Start from gross pay for the period. Leave out the premium part of overtime and shift pay, tips and service charges, expenses refunded and allowances that are not part of pay. Take off what you paid or had deducted for the employer's purposes, such as a uniform the job requires, and salary sacrificed. Add the accommodation offset where a free room is provided.
- Hours that count. Count the hours of working time in the period, including required training, travel between assignments and time you must be available at the workplace.
- Compare. Pay that counts must be at least the rate for your band times those hours.
Take a 19 year old paid £850 for 80 hours in a fortnight. Divided by the hours, that is £10.62 an hour, above the £10.85 band. If the employer then deducts £30 for a required uniform, the pay that counts drops to £820, or £10.25 an hour, and the period is £48 short. The checker above lets you enter each of these items.
What employers must keep and show
Employers must keep records that show each worker was paid at least the minimum for every pay reference period, for at least 6 years. A worker who believes they were underpaid can ask to see them. If the employer refuses, an employment tribunal can award 80 times the hourly minimum. In a claim, it is for the employer to prove the minimum was paid, not for the worker to prove it was not.
Back pay owed for an underpayment
Owed if repaid now
£40
| Rate at the time | £10.85 |
| Rate today for that band | £10.85 |
| Owed if repaid from 1 April 2027 | £41.55 |
Underpayment ÷ rate at the time × current rate of the band you were in. Enter the age you were then.
Underpayments are repaid as arrears at the current rate of the band, and HMRC can add a penalty. The underpayment page sets out how to raise a problem, from a written request to the employer to the official complaint form.