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minimum wages

The Minimum Wage Act 1983 gives the Government the authority to review and set minimum wage rates on an annual basis. The minimum wage applies to employees who aged 16 and over. Employers can choose to pay a lesser rate to employees under 16 years of age.

Effective from 1 April 2008 minimum wage rates are:

Notes:

• The adult rate applies to employees 18 years and over.
• The new entrants rate is be able to be paid to 16 and 17 year olds for the first 200 hours or three months of employment, then the adult minimum wage has to be paid.
• The trainee rate applies to employees aged 16 and over who under their employment agreement are doing 60 credits a year in an industry programme relevant to their job registered on the National Qualifications Framework. Although set at the same level as the youth rate the training minimum wage applies to all trainees regardless of age.
• Additional hours worked beyond the daily or weekly rates must be paid at or above the appropriate minimum hourly rate.
• Holiday pay for annual holidays is not included in the minimum wage and must be added on top. If an employee is being paid pay-as-you-go holiday pay this arrangement must be agreed in the applicable employment agreement and must be a separate identifiable component of the employee's pay. Pay-as-you-go holiday pay arrangements are also only allowed for short fixed term agreements of less than 12 months or for genuinely casual employment where work is so intermittent that is impractical for the employer to provide annual holidays.

We are employment law specialists so please feel free to contact us at Barbara Buckett & Associates if there are any issues raised in this update you would like to discuss further.

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Disclaimer: This publication is necessarily brief and general in nature. You should seek professional advice before taking any action in relation to the matters dealt with in this publication. Please refer to our "Legal Notices".

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