National Minimum Wage increases 1 October 2011
From 1 October 2010, new national minimum wage (NMW) rates will come into force. The NMW applies to nearly all workers and sets hourly rates below which you must not allow pay to fall.
For pay reference periods beginning on or after 1 October, you will have to pay all eligible workers the following:
- 21 and over £6.08
- 18-20 £4.98
- 16-17 £3.68
- Apprentices £2.60
Receiving a mixed reaction when annnounced earlier this year the Director General at the British Retail Consortium expressed concerns, saying: "At a time when the priority should be getting more people into work, any increase in staff costs is an extra hurdle. This rise in the National Minimum Wage is at the very top end of what retailers could be expected to live with."
Business secretary Vince Cable said: "More than 890,000 of Britain's lowest paid workers will gain from these changes. They are appropriate - reflecting the current economic uncertainty while at the same time protecting the UK's lowest paid workers and the challenges faced by businesses."
