UK Minimum Wage Rises to £12.71 for Workers Aged 21 and Over

What changed

UK statutory minimum wage rates rose on 1 April 2026.

• Workers aged 21 and over now receive £12.71 an hour, or £24,784.50 a year at 37.5 hours a week.
• Workers aged 18 to 20 receive £10.85.
• Workers aged 16 and 17 receive £8.
• Apprentices’ rates depend on age and whether they are in their first year.

The increase gives full-time workers aged 21 and over £900 more a year. The government wants eventually to replace the separate 18-to-20 rate with one adult rate, but has not set a timetable.

Why it matters

For employers, this is now a legal payroll floor, not a suggested benchmark. Paying eligible staff below the correct rate is a criminal offence, whether they are paid hourly or through another arrangement.

The enforcement figures show the cost of getting that wrong. In March 2026, HMRC said 389 employers had been fined about £12.6m and owed roughly £7.3m to around 60,000 underpaid workers. The named firms included Busy Bees, Norwich City Football Club, Hays Travel and Costa Coffee.

The bigger pay comparison arrives in October. The voluntary Real Living Wage will rise to £14.10 an hour across the UK and £15.45 in London. It is not mandatory, but the gap makes the distinction important: the statutory rate sets the legal minimum, while the voluntary rate is designed by the Living Wage Foundation around living costs.

What happens next for staffing, prices and working hours is unclear. The immediate certainty is simpler: from April, every eligible worker’s minimum legal rate is higher, and employers’ exposure to payroll errors is higher too.