Introduction
The National Minimum Wage rates changed on 1 April 2026. The rate for workers aged 21 and over is now £12.71 an hour, with lower rates for younger workers and for some apprentices.
These rates apply to every employer, regardless of how many people they employ. There is no small business exemption and no grace period after the rates move.
Most employers who underpay never intended to. They pay the advertised hourly rate and still fall short, because of an unpaid twenty minutes before a shift, a deduction for a uniform, an apprentice sitting on the wrong band, or a birthday that never reached payroll.
This guide explains the current rates, who qualifies for each one, what counts towards the minimum wage, how compliant employers still underpay, and what happens when that is found.
Current National Minimum Wage Rates
The rates change on 1 April every year. Below are the last three years, so you can see the movement as well as today's figure.
| Hourly rate from | 21 and over | 18 to 20 | Under 18 | Apprentice |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 2026 | £12.71 | £10.85 | £8.00 | £8.00 |
| April 2025 | £12.21 | £10.00 | £7.55 | £7.55 |
| April 2024 | £11.44 | £8.60 | £6.40 | £6.40 |
The rate for 18 to 20-year-olds has risen far faster than the adult rate over those two years. The saving on employing younger staff has narrowed considerably, and that gap closes completely over the next few years, which we come to below.
Always check the figure against GOV.UK's minimum wage rates page before you run payroll, particularly in the weeks either side of April.
Who Gets Which Rate
The National Living Wage is the top rate and it applies to workers aged 21 and over. It has done since 1 April 2024, when the threshold came down from 23. Anyone still working to the older 23 or 25 thresholds is underpaying.
The National Minimum Wage covers everyone from school leaving age, which is usually 16, across the bands below the National Living Wage.
A worker moves up a band on their birthday, but the higher rate is not due straight away. Entitlement is set by the worker's age on the first day of the pay reference period. So the new rate applies from the first pay reference period beginning on or after the birthday, and a birthday falling mid-period does not change the rate for that period.
Apprentices
Apprentices take the apprentice rate if they are under 19, or if they are 19 or over and still in the first year of their apprenticeship.
Everyone else on an apprenticeship gets the rate for their age. A 21-year-old apprentice in year one gets £8.00 an hour. That same apprentice in year two gets £12.71.
That second limb catches people out. The apprentice rate does not run for the length of the apprenticeship. Once an apprentice of 19 or over finishes their first year, payroll has to move them onto the rate for their age. If you are hiring an apprentice, diarise the anniversary at the point you take them on.
Who is not entitled
Some people working in your business have no minimum wage entitlement:
- genuinely self-employed contractors running their own business
- company directors without a contract of employment
- volunteers and voluntary workers for a charity, voluntary organisation or statutory body
- family members of the employer living in the employer's home
- higher and further education students on a work placement of up to a year
Interns are the difficult case. There is no such thing as an unpaid intern simply because you call the role an internship. Where the person has set hours, set duties and an obligation to turn up, they are a worker and the minimum wage applies. The exemption for placement students is narrow and depends on the placement being part of a course.
What Counts Towards the Minimum Wage
Pay counts, and one benefit in kind counts. Accommodation you provide is the only benefit that can be offset against the minimum wage. A car, meals, childcare vouchers and gym membership contribute nothing towards it, however much they are worth.
From April 2026 the accommodation offset is £11.10 a day, or £77.70 a week. Charge more than that and the excess comes off the pay that counts towards the minimum wage. Provide the accommodation free and you add the offset to the worker's pay instead.
Tips do not count towards the minimum wage either, so they cannot bring an hourly rate up to the legal floor.
How Compliant Employers Still Underpay
Four causes account for most of it, and none of them involves an employer deciding to pay below the rate.
Deductions and costs the worker absorbs
Uniforms, tools, safety equipment, training courses, DBS checks and till shortages. Where the worker funds something they need for the job and it takes their pay below the rate, that is underpayment. It counts whether the money comes out through payroll or out of their own pocket.
Unpaid working time
All of the following is working time, and all of it has to be paid:
- time on the premises before the shift starts
- handover at the end of it
- security checks on the way out
- mandatory training
- travel between assignments
- clock-in times rounded to the nearest quarter of an hour
Salaried staff working long hours
A salary that looks generous divides badly once someone regularly works well beyond their contracted hours. The minimum wage runs on actual hours worked rather than on what the contract says. So a salaried manager on a long week can quietly drop below the floor.
Birthdays and the April uplift
Two dates change what you must pay: 1 April, and the worker's birthday. Missing either is a common reason for a shortfall, and the fix is a calendar entry.
What Happens If You Get It Wrong
Arrears, penalties and public naming
HMRC can look back six years. Where it finds underpayment, you repay the arrears at current rates rather than the rates that applied at the time. A shortfall from three years ago therefore costs more today than it did then. On top of that comes a penalty of 200% of the underpayment, capped at £20,000 per worker. Paying within 14 days halves the penalty.
You may also be named publicly. In March 2026 the Department for Business and Trade named 389 employers who had underpaid around 60,000 workers. They were told to repay more than £7.3 million in wages and issued with £12.6 million in penalties. The list included well-known brands, and the reputational cost usually outweighs the fine.
Records, and who enforces them
You must keep minimum wage records for six years, a duty that doubled from three in April 2021 to match the enforcement look-back. Where you cannot produce records, the assumption runs against you.
Enforcement is also changing hands. The Fair Work Agency began operating on 7 April 2026 under the Employment Rights Act 2025. HMRC delivers day-to-day minimum wage enforcement through 2026/27 under contract to the agency. The transfer completes in April 2027. The agency covers a wider remit than HMRC's minimum wage function, taking in holiday pay and later statutory sick pay. It can also bring employment tribunal proceedings on a worker's behalf. Neither body has ever needed a complaint before looking at a business, so a proactive check is nothing new.
What Is Coming Next
The Low Pay Commission is working to a pathway that removes the youth rates altogether. The National Living Wage age comes down to 20 in 2027, and to 18 in 2028 or 2029.
Its illustrative estimate for the April 2027 National Living Wage, published in April 2026, is £13.18 in a range of £13.02 to £13.34. Treat that as an indication for budgeting rather than a rate, because the actual recommendation arrives in autumn 2026. The commitment to equalisation stands, though the timing may still move.
For anyone budgeting a recruitment round, the practical point is that the cost gap between a school leaver and an experienced hire is closing. The reasons to hire young are shifting away from cost.
What Employers Should Do Now
Check your April uplift went through. Not just the headline rate, but everyone who should have moved band.
Put birthdays in the payroll calendar. Anyone approaching 18 or 21 needs flagging before the pay period they turn.
Audit your deductions. List everything you take from pay or ask staff to buy, and check what it does to the effective hourly rate of your lowest-paid people.
Look at unrecorded time. Ask a manager to walk you through what happens in the fifteen minutes before and after a shift, then check whether it is paid.
Review salaried staff against actual hours. Divide the salary by the hours genuinely worked, not the contracted ones, and see where that lands.
Check your apprentices. Anyone aged 19 or over who has passed their first anniversary should be on the rate for their age.
How We Can Help
Most of this is payroll mechanics rather than employment law, which is exactly why it gets missed. The rate on the contract is right, so nobody thinks to look further.
At Bespoke HR we run outsourced payroll for clients who would rather the annual uprating, the birthday changes and the apprentice anniversaries simply happened. Our HR team advises on the harder judgement calls, such as whether an intern is a worker, whether time on site counts, and whether a deduction is safe. We can also help you set a salary that works commercially rather than only clearing the legal floor.
Final Thoughts
The minimum wage looks like a number to look up, and for most employers it is. The risk sits in the mechanics around it: what gets deducted, what time gets paid, and who moved band this month.
Spend an hour on your lowest-paid roles each April, just after the change, and you will catch nearly all of it before anyone else does.
Get in Touch
If you are unsure whether your payroll stands up, we are happy to talk it through. Call us for 15 minutes of free HR advice, or get in touch and we will come back to you.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the National Minimum Wage in 2026?
From 1 April 2026 the National Living Wage for workers aged 21 and over is £12.71 an hour. The rate for 18 to 20-year-olds is £10.85, and the rate for under-18s and eligible apprentices is £8.00. These rates change on 1 April every year, so check GOV.UK before running payroll.
What age do you get the National Living Wage?
You get the National Living Wage from age 21. That threshold dropped from 23 to 21 on 1 April 2024. The Low Pay Commission's pathway takes it to 20 in 2027 and to 18 in 2028 or 2029, and workers below the threshold take the National Minimum Wage rate for their age band.
Do apprentices get the minimum wage?
Yes. Apprentices take the apprentice rate of £8.00 an hour if they are under 19, or if they are 19 or over and in the first year of their apprenticeship. Once an apprentice aged 19 or over completes their first year, they move to the full National Minimum Wage rate for their age.
Can I deduct the cost of a uniform from wages?
Only if the deduction does not take the worker's pay below the minimum wage. Charges for uniforms, tools, training and similar work-related costs count against minimum wage pay, whether you deduct them or the worker buys the item themselves. Deductions of this kind are a common cause of the underpayment HMRC finds.
Does accommodation count towards the minimum wage?
Accommodation is the only benefit in kind that counts. From April 2026 the offset is £11.10 a day or £77.70 a week. If you charge more than the offset, the excess reduces the pay that counts towards the minimum wage. If you provide accommodation free of charge, you add the offset to the worker's pay.
What happens if an employer underpays the minimum wage?
HMRC can investigate up to six years back. An employer repays the arrears at current rates and faces a penalty of 200% of the underpayment, capped at £20,000 per worker and halved if paid within 14 days. Employers are also named publicly by the Department for Business and Trade.
Is the real Living Wage the same as the National Living Wage?
No. The National Living Wage is the statutory rate every employer must pay to workers aged 21 and over. The real Living Wage is a voluntary rate calculated by the Living Wage Foundation and paid by accredited employers who choose to. Only the statutory rate is enforceable.
Do interns have to be paid the minimum wage?
Usually yes. If an intern has set hours, set duties and an obligation to attend, they are a worker and the minimum wage applies whatever the role is called. The main exception is a higher or further education student on a work placement of up to a year that forms part of their course.