National minimum wage increases

The main (adult) rate of the national minimum wage rises from £5.52 to £5.73 per hour. In addition, the development rate increases from £4.60 to £4.77 and rate for workers aged 16 and 17 increases from £3.40 to £3.53 per hour.

There are also changes to the regime for penalising employers that fail to comply with national minimum wage legislation. These include a new method of calculating arrears for workers who have been underpaid; a penalty payment for employers that do not pay their workers the national minimum wage; new inspection powers for national minimum wage compliance officers; and a strengthening of the criminal regime for national minimum wage offences.

XpertHR guidance

• National minimum wage Visit XpertHR's statutory rates service for details of current and future rates.
  
• The national minimum wage The XpertHR employment law reference manual provides guidance on complying with national minimum wage legislation.
  
• National minimum wage to rise to £5.73 per hour Employment Review reports on the minimum wage increase.

Government guidance and documents

• National Minimum Wage Regulations 1999 (Amendment) Regulations 2008 (on the OPSI website) Read the Regulations that increase the rates from 1 October 2008.
  
• National minimum wage: Low Pay Commission report 2008 (PDF format, 1.5MB) (on the LPC website) Read the Low pay Commission's recommendations for the 2008 increase.
  
• National minimum wage (on the DBERR website) Guidance on the national minimum wage.