From April 2016, all workers aged 25 and not in the first year of an apprenticeship are legally entitled to at least £7.20 per hour.
The National Minimum Wage is a minimum pay per hour most workers are entitled to by law. This rate depends on a worker’s age and if they are an apprentice.
Currently the minimum age for anyone 21 and over is £6.70, but come Friday some of us will be entitled to an extra 50p per hour.
You should receive the increase automatically from April, if you currently earn less than £7.20 an hour, so check your payslip then.
This shouldn’t be confused with the Living Wage, which is a voluntary rate set independently by employers based on the cost of living in the UK.
The current UK Living Wage is £8.25 per hour, and the current London Living Wage is £9.40 an hour.
According to Living Wage Foundation, businesses that have implemented the Living Wage policy in London have found that more than 80% of employers believe it has enhanced their staff’s quality of work and absenteeism has fallen by approximately 25%.
According to Resolution Foundation, the National Minimum Wage could reach £9 an hour by 2020.
According to the site, those that are currently receiving the minimum wage will receive a 10% pay rise on Friday due to the new increased amount.
Around two in three workers receiving the higher pay will be women, and over half of those expected to benefit from the increase work in hospitality, retail and admin and support services.
Cities like Sheffield, Nottingham and Birmingham are expected to benefit more from the National Living Wage opposed to London and Oxford, where pay and living costs are higher than the rest of the country.
To check you are receiving minimum wage, use the National Minimum Wage calculator here.
If you don’t see the difference in your payment, you may want to speak to your employer.