Free tool · rates from 1 April 2026

Minimum wage checker

The legal minimums by age band, and whether a rate you pay clears them. Enforced by HMRC with back pay, penalties and public naming, so worth thirty seconds.

Rates checked 18 August 2026

The 2026/27 rates

From 1 April 2026: £12.71 an hour at 21 and over, £10.85 at 18 to 20, £8.00 under 18, and £8.00 for apprentices who are under 19 or in the first year. After the first year, an apprentice aged 19 or over moves to the rate for their age. Time spent on required training counts as working time and must be paid.

The two errors HMRC actually finds

Almost nobody underpays the minimum wage on purpose. The findings come from arithmetic. Accommodation is the first: only £11.10 a day counts towards the minimum, so charging more than that for a room quietly drags an hourly rate that looks legal below the line. The second is birthdays. The higher band applies from the start of the next pay reference period after the birthday, and a 21st that payroll did not flag is the classic finding.

There is a third that catches industrial employers in particular: unpaid time that counts as working time. Time spent on site before a shift for a handover, mandatory security searches on the way out, and time spent waiting for work to arrive all count. Deducted from the pay and added to the hours, they can pull an apparently compliant rate under.

Deductions that count against the minimum

Deductions for the employer's own benefit reduce the pay used for the calculation. Uniform bought from the employer, tools, and till shortages are the common ones. Deductions for things the worker chose, like a salary sacrifice pension or a season ticket loan, generally do not.

What happens if you get it wrong

HMRC can require back pay for up to six years, impose a penalty of up to twice the underpayment, and name the employer publicly. The naming is what does the damage in a small industry where everyone recruits from the same pool.

Common questions

What is the National Living Wage from April 2026?

£12.71 an hour for workers aged 21 and over, £10.85 for 18 to 20 year olds, and £8.00 for under 18s and apprentices in their first year.

How much accommodation can count towards the minimum wage?

£11.10 a day. Charging more than that for accommodation reduces the pay counted towards the minimum wage calculation.

When does a worker move to a higher age band?

From the start of the first pay reference period beginning after their birthday, not on the birthday itself.

Does time spent waiting for work count as working time?

Generally yes, where the worker is required to be available at the workplace. Time spent on mandatory searches or handovers usually counts too, and unpaid time of that kind is a common cause of underpayment.

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