Guide to Employment Rights
The SRC have produced a Guide to your Employment Rights booklet which can help you find your way around all of this. Printed copies are also available from The Advice Centre.
If the booklet does not answer all of your questions, or just for more information, please contact The Advice Centre or drop in during opening hours.
‘National Living Wage’ explained.
The so-called ‘National Living Wage’ came into force in 2016. It is currently paid at £12.21 per hour (from 1st April 2025) and is basically a new name for the National Minimum Wage for workers aged 21 or over.
Workers aged under 21 are entitled to the National Minimum Wage (see below for current rates).
There is more information about the ‘NLW’ and the NMW on the ACAS website.
The ‘National Living Wage’ is not the Living Wage.
Confused? The Living Wage is an hourly rate calculated each year by the Living Wage Foundation, and based on the actual cost of living. It is not the same as the Government’s ‘National Living Wage’. The Living Wage is currently £12.60 per hour for all workers aged 18 or over. However, the Living Wage is optional for employers – they are not obliged by law to pay it.
For an explanation of the Living Wage please check out the Living Wage Foundation.
National Minimum Wage
Most workers in the UK over compulsory school leaving age are legally entitled to be paid at least the minimum wage and all employers have to pay it to you if you are entitled to it.
There are different levels of minimum wage, depending on your age.
The rates from April 2025 are:
- £12.21 – the rate for workers aged 21 and over
- £10.00 – the 18-20 rate
- £7.55 – the 16-17 rate for workers above school leaving age but under 18
- £7.55 – apprentices under 19 or in their first year of apprenticeship
I work in a role which means customers will often leave tips, am I entitled to receive any or all of these?
Yes, as of 1st October 2024 when the Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act 2023 came into force, your employer must ensure that you receive 100% of the tips you are entitled to and that you receive tips left via cash or card.
This essentially means that your employer cannot take any deductions from any tips left by customers and that they must implement a system of allocation of tips that is fair, reasonable and clear.
If you are unsure of how your employer currently distributes tips to staff you are entitled to ask them for more information on what system they currently have in place and how they are ensuring they comply with the above legislation.