Summary  5

1 National Minimum Wage factsheet  7

1.1 Entitlement to the NMW  7

1.2 How is the NMW calculated and set?  8

1.3 NMW legislation  9

1.4 The NMW age bands  9

1.5 The NMW rates  10

1.6 The difference between the NMW and the NLW  10

1.7 How does the NMW relate to overtime work?  11

1.8 Are company benefits included in calculating someone's minimum wage?  11

1.9 Tax and the NMW  12

1.10 Volunteers and the NMW  13

1.11 The economic effects of the NMW  15

1.12 NMW statistics  16

2 The National Minimum Wage and different types of work  17

2.1 Salaried hours work  17

2.2 Time work  18

2.3 Output work  19

2.4 Unmeasured work  19

2.5 Sleep-in shifts  20

3 Policy development of the national minimum wage  21

3.1 Early history and introduction  21

3.2 Development of the NMW, 1998 to 2015  22

3.3 2015: The announcement of a National Living Wage  23

4 Enforcement and compliance  24

4.1 Enforcement by workers  24

4.2 Enforcement by the government  24

5 The age-based bands and the apprenticeship rate  29

5.1 The 18-20 rate  30

5.2 The 16-17 rate  31

5.3 Age discrimination in pay and recruitment  31

5.4 The apprentice rate  32

6 Developments since 2024  34

6.1 The Conservative government's remit  34

6.2 The inclusion of living costs in the remit  34

6.3 A genuine living wage for every adult worker  35

6.4 Parliamentary activity surrounding the most recent changes  36

6.5 Developments in 2026  37

7 Appendix A: the LPC's 2026 remit for the National Minimum Wage  39