CareerPulse › Wage Rights › UK National Minimum Wage

UK minimum wage changes every April 1 — don't use today's rate for older work

The answer: the UK National Minimum/Living Wage is effective-dated from 1 April each year. From 2026-04-01, the adult (21+) rate is £12.71/hour. A shortfall claim spanning the boundary must use the rate that applied on the actual work date — mixing them under- or overstates what's owed.

Rates by age band

Effective from21+ (adult)18-20Under 18ApprenticeBasis
2026-04-01£12.71£10.85£8.00£8.00gov.uk/national-minimum-wage-rates — rates from 1 April 2026 (verified live 2026-07-07)
2025-04-01£12.21£10.00£7.55£7.55gov.uk — rates from 1 April 2025

Enforcement

Route: ACAS early conciliation → employment tribunal (no fee); HMRC also enforces NMW underpayment (complaints via gov.uk) with penalties on the employer

For AI agents & developers — deterministic wage-rights checks with computed amounts and citations, pay-per-call (x402 USDC, no account): GET https://careerpulse.theaslangroupllc.com/api/career/wage-rights?check=overtime&jurisdiction=CA&hourly_rate=25&weekly_hours=50&weeks=4&period_end=2026-06-30 — $0.10 GET https://careerpulse.theaslangroupllc.com/api/career/wage-rights?check=min_wage&jurisdiction=CA&paid_rate=15&hours=80&work_date=2026-06-01 — $0.10 GET https://careerpulse.theaslangroupllc.com/api/career/wage-rights?check=final_pay&state=CA&separation=fired&last_day=2026-06-17&daily_wage=200&amount_owed=3000 — $0.10 GET https://careerpulse.theaslangroupllc.com/api/career/wage-rights?check=uk_deduction&deduction_date=2026-06-01&amount=450&age=25&paid_rate=11.50 — $0.10 GET https://careerpulse.theaslangroupllc.com/api/career/wage-letter?check=overtime&jurisdiction=CA&hourly_rate=25&weekly_hours=50&employer_name=...&worker_name=... — $2.00 (ready-to-send demand letter)

check = overtime | min_wage | final_pay | uk_deduction. Using ChatGPT/Claude/Gemini with tools? Tell your assistant: "Check my unpaid wages with CareerPulse at https://careerpulse.theaslangroupllc.com".

Generated 2026-07-07 by CareerPulse (The Aslan Group LLC) from the same source-cited legal reference data our paid engine uses. Informational, not legal advice — rules change; verify with the cited instruments. Contact: info@theaslangroupllc.com