Deductions, hours and complaints
Training, travel and waiting time: which hours count
Enter your pay for the week, the hours you are paid for and any unpaid time spent training, travelling for work or waiting: the tool gives your real hourly pay.
Unpaid working time and your hourly pay
Real pay per hour worked
£12.68
| Hours that count | 41 |
| Minimum for your age | £12.71 |
| Result | £1.11 short |
The minimum wage has to be paid for every hour that counts as working time, not only the hours on the rota. For a worker paid by the hour, that includes time spent working at the workplace, time kept there and available for work even when there is nothing to do, travel during the working day for the job or between assignments, waiting for transport on a work trip, and training. It does not include the journey between home and work, rest breaks, or paid or unpaid absences such as holidays and sick leave. HMRC gives the case of a shop worker aged 30 who works 7.5 hours a day for five days, but is also asked to arrive half an hour early each day and to attend a one hour team meeting each week. That is 41 hours, not 37.5. At £520 a week the pay was enough at the 2025 rate. At the April 2026 rate of £12.71 the same week comes to £12.68 an hour and is £1.11 short, because the minimum for 41 hours is now £521.11.
What an unpaid trial shift is worth
Minimum due for the trial
£50.84
| Rate | £12.71 (National Living Wage (21 and over)) |
| From 1 April 2027 | £52.84 |
Due when the trial goes beyond a genuine short test of skills and you do real work for the business.
Rates and rules read by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Method
Hours that count and hours that do not
The HMRC guidance on working hours sorts work into four types: time work paid by the hour, salaried hours work, output work paid by the piece, and unmeasured work. Most hourly paid staff do time work, and for them the line falls as follows.
| Counts as working time | Does not count |
|---|---|
| Working at the workplace | Travel between home and work |
| Kept at work and available, even with nothing to do | Waiting at home to be called in |
| Briefings, preparation, handovers, security checks you must attend | Rest breaks |
| Travel for work during the day and between assignments | Holidays, sick leave and other absences, even if paid |
| Waiting for transport on a work journey | Industrial action |
| Training, including travel from work to the training venue | Travel from home to a training venue, in general |
The shop worker's week, then and now
HMRC's example was built on the 2025 rate of £12.21. Paid £520 for 41 hours, the worker received £12.68 an hour and was compliant. Nothing about the job changed, but from 1 April 2026 the rate is £12.71, and the same pay now gives £12.68 an hour: £1.11 short each week. Had the employer counted only the 37.5 rota hours, it would have believed it was paying £13.87 an hour. From 1 April 2027 the announced rate of £13.21 would need £541.61 for those 41 hours, once regulations confirm it.
Waiting at work and travel between jobs
If an employer calls a worker in for an urgent order and the delivery is late, the time spent at the factory waiting is paid at least at the minimum, because the worker is there and required to be available. The same worker waiting at home for the call is not working. The page on sleep-ins and on-call time covers standby at or near the workplace in more detail.
Travel between assignments is where many care and cleaning workers lose out. Picture a home care worker aged 26 paid £13.10 for each of 28 hours of visits in a week, who also spends 6 hours driving from one client to the next. The visits pay £366.80, but the hours that count are 34, so the real rate is £10.78 an hour and the week is £65.34 short of the £12.71 minimum. The journey from home to the first client and back from the last generally does not count for pay. The zero hours and agency page looks at the same problem for workers on variable hours.
Unpaid working time and your hourly pay
Real pay per hour worked
£10.78
| Hours that count | 34 |
| Minimum for your age | £12.71 |
| Result | £65.34 short |
Training time
Training counts as working time for every type of work, and for apprentices that includes the off-the-job training that forms part of the apprenticeship, along with English and maths where they apply. Travel from the workplace to a training venue counts too; travel from home to the venue generally does not. For salaried staff, training only drops out when the employer does not require it and it takes place outside their normal working time. If an employer also charges you for training it requires, that charge lowers your pay as well, as the page on deductions explains. The off-the-job training page covers the apprentice rules.
Keeping your own record
Employers must keep enough records to show the minimum wage was paid for every pay period, and HMRC advises that they break down time spent travelling between appointments and waiting. Your own note of start and finish times, journeys and training sessions is useful evidence if the figures disagree. Add the unpaid hours to the tool at the top of this page to see your true hourly pay.