The Low Pay Commission (LPC) has recommended to the Government that the adult rate of the National Minimum Wage (NMW), which applies to workers aged 21 and over, should rise by 3 per cent to £6.70 per hour from 1 October 2015.
The LPC’s report also recommends:
- an increase of 3.3 per cent to £5.30 per hour in the youth development rate, which applies to 18-20 year olds;
- an increase of 2.2 per cent to £3.87 per hour in the NMW rate for 16- and 17-year-olds; and
- an increase of 2.6 per cent to £2.80 per hour in the apprentice rate of the NMW, which applies to apprentices under 19 or over 19 and in the first year of their apprenticeship.
The recommended increase in the accommodation offset, which is the maximum daily sum employers who provide accommodation can deduct towards those costs, is 27 pence, taking it to £5.35 per day from 1 October 2015.
The Government has also published details of a further 70 employers who failed to pay their workers the NMW, bringing the overall total named and shamed so far to 162.