Deductions, hours and complaints
Uniform, tools and training deductions: when they break the minimum wage
Enter your hourly pay, the hours in the pay period and what you paid or had deducted for uniform or kit: the tool shows the pay per hour that is left.
Uniform deduction against the minimum wage
Pay per hour after the deduction
£12.62
| Minimum for your age | £12.71 |
| Room before you fall under | £11.60 |
| Result | £3.40 short |
A charge for a uniform the job requires counts against minimum wage pay, whether deducted or paid by you.
Money you hand back to your employer for something the job requires, such as a uniform, tools, safety equipment or compulsory training, is taken off your pay before it is compared with the minimum wage. It does not matter whether the cost is deducted from your wages or paid by you, whether you agreed to it, or whether you bought the item from the employer or from a shop it named, unless the employer refunds you. GOV.UK gives the example of a worker aged 27 who works 40 hours a week at £13 an hour, so £520 a week, and pays £15 a week to rent his uniform. For the minimum wage only £505 counts, which is £12.625 an hour, below the £12.71 National Living Wage in force from April 2026. On paper he earns £0.29 an hour above the minimum; in reality the uniform leaves him £3.40 short for the week, a gap the employer must pay. Tax, National Insurance and student loan deductions, by contrast, never reduce minimum wage pay.
Underpaid for this period by
£3.40
£12.62 an hour counted, against a minimum of £12.71
| Rate that applies | National Living Wage (21 and over) |
| Rates in force | April 2026 to March 2027 |
| Minimum for 40 hours | £508.40 |
| Pay that counts | £505 |
| Taken off (work costs, sacrifice) | −£15 |
| Same pay from 1 April 2027 | £23.40 short (£13.21 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.
Rates and rules read by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Method
The uniform example, step by step
| Step | Amount |
|---|---|
| Gross pay: 40 hours at £13 | £520 |
| Uniform rental paid to the employer | −£15 |
| Pay that counts for the minimum wage | £505 |
| Pay that counts per hour | £12.625 |
| Minimum for 40 hours at 27, from April 2026 | £508.40 |
| Shortfall the employer must make up | £3.40 |
A pay rate that looks safe can still fail once kit is paid for. From 1 April 2027 the gap widens: the announced rate of £13.21 means 40 hours must come to £528.40, so unless the hourly rate rises the same uniform charge would leave the worker £23.40 short each week. That rate is announced, and still has to be set in regulations.
Which costs reduce the pay that counts
The test in the HMRC guidance on calculating the minimum wage is whether the money goes to the employer's own use and benefit, or meets a cost that comes with the job. Whether the employer makes a profit, whether the worker signed up to it and whether it comes from gross or net pay are all irrelevant.
| Charge or payment | Reduces minimum wage pay? |
|---|---|
| Uniform or work wear the job requires, not refunded | Yes |
| Cleaning, laundry or repair of a uniform worn out in normal use | Yes |
| Tools, protective equipment and other kit the job needs | Yes |
| Training or exams the employer requires, even from the final pay | Yes |
| Admin fees for handling a deduction or for a payslip | Yes |
| Transport the employer arranges and deducts for | Yes |
| Savings club money the employer holds | Yes |
| Lost, unreturned or carelessly damaged kit, under the contract | No |
| Repaying a loan, an advance or an overpayment of wages | No |
| Income Tax, National Insurance, student loan | No |
| Pension or union payments passed to a third party at your request | No |
| Meals you choose to buy and pay for after payday | No |
A charge lowers minimum wage pay in the pay reference period in which it is made, not the one it relates to. That is why a deduction from a final payslip, for training spread over a whole job, can create an underpayment in that last period on its own. The pay reference period page explains how each period is checked.
Fees, licences and medical checks
Work-related fees need a closer look. Where a registration is a personal condition for entering the trade before any job starts, such as a nurse's professional registration or a criminal records check, the worker paying for it does not lower minimum wage pay. Where the employer imposes the cost for this particular role, it does. HMRC gives the case of a meat processing firm that requires a medical certificate from every member of staff: any charge to workers for that check is a job expense and counts against their pay.
A smaller example: kit on a part-time wage
Take a worker aged 19 on £11.20 an hour for 24 hours in a week, above the £10.85 rate for 18 to 20 year olds. In the week she starts, she pays £30 for the black jacket and non-slip shoes the employer names. Her gross pay of £268.80 falls to £238.80 for minimum wage purposes, or £9.95 an hour, and she is £21.60 below the floor that week. If the employer refunds the £30 within a reasonable time, the shortfall disappears. Try your own figures in the tool at the top of the page, or put a whole payslip through the checker under the summary.
Uniform costs combine with the other items that lower or leave out pay: a salary sacrifice reduces it further, and tips never make up for it. Where the result is below the rate, the underpayment page sets out how to raise it.