The National Minimum Wage was introduced in April 1999 and the adult rate was set at £3.60 an hour.
The following years have seen the rates increased, but little else has changed until last Friday – 1 April – when we saw the introduction of the new National Living Wage, not to be confused with the voluntary “living wage”.
The Department for Business and Innovation (BIS) has produced a very useful revised guide to the Minimum Wage.
The National Living Wage applies to workers aged 25 and over from 1 April 2016 through an amendment to the National Minimum Wage Regulations 2015 to ensure that the rules that apply to the National Minimum Wage rates for workers aged under 25 also apply to workers entitled to the National Living Wage. The guidance on calculating the National Minimum Wage therefore also applies to workers entitled to the National Living Wage.
For ease of reference, the guidance refers to the minimum wage as a collective term to refer to both the National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage.
