Only a month to go until the The National Living Wage changes to £7.83 per hour getting closer to the governments target of £9.00 per hour by 2020.
We've listed the rates here below for you and all are effective from 1st April 2017.
£7.83 per hour - 25 yrs old and over
£7.38 per hour - 21-24 yrs old
£5.90 per hour - 18-20 yrs old
£4.20 per hour - 16-17 yrs old
£3.70 for apprentices under 19 or 19 or over who are in the first year of apprenticeship
If you haven't done so already, you should be checking that all your staff on the minimum wage have had the relevant increase, but don't forget to check people's ages as well to ensure that they're being paid at the correct rate. An 18th, 21st or 25th birthday triggers a significant increase to the rate of pay and even well-intentioned employers can be caught out by this if they're not on the ball.
The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) has found that many employers are unaware of the penalties for not complying with the NMW.
A survey of 1,000 businesses across the country, carried out for BIS, found that 53% of employer don't realise that non-compliance can be a criminal offence; 64% don't know they had to repay workers they had underpaid; and 65% don't realise they could be publicly named and shamed.
Remember there are no excuses for not paying the minimum wage. If you aren't sure if it applies to you, get in touch.