It is important you are made aware of the new rates of National Living Wage (NLW) and National Minimum Wage (NMW) which are due to come into force from 1 April 2024. These are outlined as follows:
- National Living Wage (21 and over): £11.44 per hour
- 18-20 rate: £8.60 per hour
- 16-17 rate: £6.40 per hour
- Apprentice rate: £6.40 per hour
- Accommodation offset: £9.99 per day
There is also a change to NMW exemptions so that, from 1 April 2024, employees who carry out domestic work while living with their employer will become entitled to the minimum wage.
Previously, live-in domestic workers were exempt if they were not members of the family but were ‘treated as such, in particular as regards … the provision of living accommodation and meals and the sharing of tasks and leisure actvities’. This exemption will now be removed.
Employers who do not pay staff at the appropriate rates not only risk claims from employees but may also be ‘named and shamed’ in a government report. Therefore, it is important for employers to keep abreast of the increases in pay rates, and in particular the application of the NLW to younger workers aged 21 and over from April.