National Living and National Minimum Wage increases: make sure you’re aware of the upcoming changes
Employers need to be aware of changes to the National Living and National Minimum Wage coming shortly.
Businesses must check which employees are affected by the changes and calculate new wages accurately, implementing at the right time.
What are the changes to the National Living Wage and National Minimum Wage?
This increase will see the National Living Wage increase to £11.44 per hour, an increase of more than £1.00 an hour. This will apply to employees aged 23 years old and above.
The National Minimum Wage increase depends on the age of the employee. However, each increment is more than £1.10 per hour. The full changes are below:
Apprentice rate and the rate for 16 to 17 year olds will rise to £6.40 per hour (£1.12 increase per hour).
18 to 20 year old workers will receive an hourly rate of £8.60 an hour (£1.11 increase per hour).
When do the wage increases take effect
All changes to the National Living Wage and National Minimum Wage take effect from 1st April 2024.
This is the largest ever increase in the minimum wage in cash terms, and the first time is has been increased by more than £1.
How will this change affect recruitment?
Employers will not only need to make the relevant increases to their current staff, but also how this change affects future employees.
Live job adverts will also need to be checked to see what rate of pay/salary is being advertised.
Understanding the new rates of pay will be important for employers with differing pay scales. For example, those who work unsocial hours and may receive an enhancement. This will also be the case with staff across supervisory levels, to ensure that there is still a pay differential from those they supervise.
Whilst most employers welcome the increase, this isn’t the case for all. In a recent report, over half of employers (55%) with higher levels of low pay, said the increase in minimum wage would have a negative impact on their business. This includes hospitality and retail, who have been hit hard over the past 5 years.
For more information regarding recruitment and hiring, please do take the time to look at our other blogs.