New national minimum wage rates come into force
07/10/2010
By Nick Hobden, Partner and Head of Employment
What with all the attention being paid to the introduction of the Equality Act 2010, you could be forgiven for thinking that this was the only legislative change to come into force on 1 October 2010. But of course this is the time of year when national minimum wage rates are reviewed. The rates have been increased as follows:
- the adult hourly rate, which now applies to employees of 21 years of age or over, has risen from £5.80 to £5.93
- the hourly rate for 18 to 20 year olds has risen from £4.83 to £4.92 and
- the hourly rate for 16-17 year olds has risen from £3.57 to £3.64.
In most cases, compliance with the national minimum wage is fairly straight forward. But difficult issues can arise in situations where an employer is providing non-cash benefits in partial settlement of the national minimum wage or an employer has engaged the services of an 'intern' or a 'volunteer'. If you have any issues that you would like to discuss with us, please contact a member of the team.