However many people are not entitled to it
However many people are not entitled to it
As of April, millions of workers across the UK could see as much as an extra £975 in their bank accounts. This is due to the minimum wage – the lowest hourly rate that employers are legally obliged to pay their employees – going up again.
How much a person receives is determined by their age, with the minimum wage applicable to both full and part-time workers. To qualify for the National Minimum Wage, you must have reached school leaving age, while the National Living Wage is applicable to those aged 21 and above.
Come April, the National Living Wage for workers aged 21 and over will increase from £12.21 to £12.71 per hour. Additionally, the minimum wages for those aged between 18 to 20, and under 18, will rise from £10 to £10.50 and from £7.55 to £8, respectively.
The apprentice rate will also climb from £7.55 to £8 per hour. Apprentices who are either under 19, or aged 19 and over and within their first year of their apprenticeship, are entitled to the apprentice rate, whilst those over 19 who have completed their first year are entitled to the appropriate minimum wage for their age group.
For a full-time employee aged over 21, this uplift equates to roughly an additional £975 per year. However, the following categories of workers are not entitled to the minimum wage:
- self-employed people running their own businesses.
- members of the armed forces
- employees participating in a government employment scheme, such as the Work Programme
- people on government pre-apprenticeship programmes
- people undertaking work shadowing
- employees below school leaving age (typically 16)
- family members of the employer living in the employer’s household
- participants in the following European Union (EU) initiatives: Leonardo da Vinci, Erasmus+, Comenius
- individuals living and working within a religious community
- company directors
- prisoners
- individuals undertaking a Jobcentre Plus Work trial for up to 6 weeks
- higher and further education students on work experience or a work placement up to one year
- share fishermen
- individuals who are volunteers or voluntary workers
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