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The recent publication of businesses failing to pay the minimum wage serves as a stark reminder of the complexities inherent in NMW legislation.

Following an announcement in Jeremy Hunt's autumn statement, the National Living Wage and National Minimum Wage in the UK will increase by the highest amounts ever seen.

The introduction of the National Minimum Wage (the NMW) and National Living Wage has been transformative for the UK labour market and increasing pay for the lower paid workers. Although compliance may appear simple, it’s much more complex than it seems. There are several factors that can have a significant impact on whether employers are paying NMW, and where accidental failures are surprisingly common.

Putting more businesses at risk of being called for an NMW inspection.

This week, a 15-second animation will be shown during natural pauses in the game play of Angry Birds, The Sims, FIFA, Sugar Blast and others to encourage gamers to check their pay. The ads will remind players of NMW rates and provide a link to the Government's Check Your Pay page.

Employment Taxes Seminar

It was a pleasure to be asked to speak to UNW LLP’s Employment Taxes Update 2022 at the Catalyst building on the former Scottish & Newcastle Breweries site – an excellent bit of architecture in the Newcastle Helix development that is looking very inspiring as a new centre of innovation for the city.

In 2021, there was a significant change in the NLW age threshold which was lowered from 25 to 23 years old. The Government has set out its plan to lower this to 21 years old by 2024.

This year has seen a further 6.6% increase in NLW and a clear message remains that employers must continue to pay at least NMW/NLW to workers, and ensure they uplift the rates at the correct time.

As part of an overhaul aimed to reduce the burden of the legislation on businesses, there have been big announcements for NMW today following the review of the naming/shaming policy. As well as changes to the naming scheme the announcement included changes to salaried work, salary sacrifice and deductions from pay.