The National Living Wage (NLW) rate increases by 6.2% to £8.72 from today.
The statutory minimum wage for workers aged 25 and over increases from £8.21 following recommendations made to the government by the Low Pay Commission (LPC) in the autumn.
The rise is more than three times the rate of inflation and takes hourly pay for people aged 25 and over to £8.72, and has been welcomed by unions and comes as many workers across the country are on reduced pay because of the coronavirus lockdown.
A further increase to the National Minimum Wage will also see pay increases for younger workers of between 4.6% and 6.5%. For 21- to 24-year-olds this will be a 6.5% increase from £7.70 to £8.20 an hour.
Bryan Sanderson, chair of the Low Pay Commission, said: “Many of the nation’s key workers – in, for example, the care sector, agriculture, transport and retail – are low-paid, are continuing to work in very difficult conditions and will benefit from today’s increase. At the same time, the government has introduced a comprehensive package of support for employers to lessen the impacts of these extraordinary circumstances.
“Under our new remit, the government asks us to monitor the labour market and the impacts of the National Living Wage closely, advise on any emerging risks and – if the economic evidence warrants it – recommend that the government reviews its target or timeframe. This is what the government refers to as the ‘emergency brake’.
“The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic clearly represents a very challenging set of circumstances for workers and employers alike, and will require us to review whether the emergency brake is required when we next provide our advice to the government. This advice will be crucially dependent as always on the economic data we receive.”
From April 1st , the new rates are:
- The National Living Wage for ages 25 and above – up 6.2% to £8.72
- The National Minimum Wage for 21 to 24-year-olds – up 6.5% to £8.20
- For 18 to 20-year-olds – up 4.9% to £6.45
- For under-18s – up 4.6% to £4.55
- For apprentices – up 6.4% to £4.15
