October will see an increase to the
National Minimum Wage (NMW) but not the introduction of expected
related legislation. From 1st October 2008 the NMW will
be paid as follows:
Workers aged 22 and above - £5.73 per hour
Workers aged 18 – 21 - £4.77 per hour
Workers aged 16 – 17 - £3.53 per hour
October was also set to see the introduction of changes to penalties
and calculation of arrears of National Minimum Wage (NMW) payments
as set out in the Employment Bill. The government has announced
that the bill has been delayed in going through parliament, and
the changes can now be expected to come into force on 6th April
2009.
The changes will include:
calculation of underpaid NMW to refer to the current NMW
rather than the rate of NMW at the time of underpayment
penalties for employers that fail to pay the NMW
new powers for HMRC to take NMW records and documentation
from the employer’s premises for the purpose of copying
