How do I check I am being paid the minimum wage?

The rate is only half the calculation — which hours count is the other half. Travel between jobs, sleep-in shifts, trial shifts and deductions all change the answer, and each has a specific rule.

Difficulty: intermediate
Time: 13 min
Read: 6 min

Short answer

Work out your total pay for a pay period, divide by the hours that legally count, and compare with the rate for your age band. Travel between assignments counts; commuting does not. A sleep-in shift is generally only paid for the hours you are awake and working, unless suitable sleeping facilities were not provided. A trial shift longer than a day is likely to be payable. Current rates are on GOV.UK and change every April.

Underpayment is usually not a decision by anyone; it is an arithmetic consequence of hours that were not counted, or of a deduction that should not have been made. That is why checking the rate alone rarely finds it. Working out which hours count for your type of work, then dividing, is the check that actually works — and GOV.UK's own calculator does exactly that.

Step by step

Find your rate band.There are four: the National Living Wage for workers aged twenty-one and over, a rate for eighteen to twenty year olds, a rate for under eighteens, and an apprentice rate for apprentices under nineteen or in the first year of an apprenticeship. Rates change on 1 April every year and are published on GOV.UK.
Identify which type of work you do.Salaried hours, time work, output work or unmeasured work. The type determines which hours count and over what period the average is taken, and one person can be doing more than one type.
Count travel time correctly.Time travelling for the purposes of work counts, including between assignments — a care worker moving between clients, for example — and travel to training. Commuting between home and a normal workplace does not count, and neither does travel from home to a first assignment for minimum wage purposes, even though a different rule applies for working time.
Apply the sleep-in rule.Where you are permitted to sleep and are only expected to respond if needed, you are generally only entitled to the minimum wage for time awake for the purposes of working. Two exceptions matter: if you are expected to work for all or most of the shift and only sleep between tasks, the whole shift is likely payable; and where suitable sleeping facilities were not provided, the whole shift must be paid.
Check what deductions have been taken.Deductions for uniforms, tools, training or things used for the job reduce pay for minimum wage purposes and can push you below the rate. Accommodation is the only benefit in kind that counts towards the minimum wage, and only up to a set daily offset.
Do not count non-cash benefits.Meals, a car, childcare vouchers and similar benefits do not count towards the minimum wage. Only money, and the accommodation offset, do.
Check trial shifts.The law does not define a trial period. The government's stated view is that a trial lasting longer than a day is likely to attract the minimum wage in all but very exceptional circumstances, particularly in a real working environment. A short observed exercise is different from a day on the floor.
Use the official calculator.GOV.UK has a calculator for workers that applies the hours rules for you. Have your payslips, your hours and your age to hand. Ask your employer for your records if you do not have them.
Ask for your records.Employers must keep minimum wage records for six years, and you have a right to see your own. Refusing access can result in an award against them of eighty times the hourly rate.
Raise it with the employer first, in writing.Many underpayments are genuine mistakes about hours and are corrected once shown the arithmetic. Set out the period, the hours, the pay and the shortfall.
Then complain to the enforcement body.There is a confidential online complaints form on GOV.UK, and the Acas helpline can advise first. Enforcement now sits with the Fair Work Agency, with HMRC continuing to carry out minimum wage enforcement on its behalf while the transfer completes. You can report a former employer, and you can ask for anonymity — but they cannot take a complaint forward if you have already started tribunal proceedings.
Know your own claim route.You can bring an employment tribunal claim, where the burden of proof is on the employer to show the minimum wage was paid, or a civil claim, which reaches back six years. Starting your own claim ends the enforcement body's involvement, so choose one route.

Tips

Keep your own record of hours worked, in a notebook or an app. Where records conflict, a contemporaneous log is powerful.
Ask for your minimum wage records in writing. Employers must keep them for six years and the right of access has real teeth.
Run the GOV.UK calculator before you complain. Arriving with the arithmetic done changes the conversation.

Common mistakes

Comparing the rate rather than doing the division — Underpayment nearly always comes from hours that were not counted. The check that finds it is total pay divided by qualifying hours.
Starting a tribunal claim and expecting enforcement to continue — The enforcement body cannot take a complaint forward once you have started tribunal proceedings. Choose one route deliberately.

If it doesn't work

Your hourly rate looks right but your pay does not

Cause: Unpaid time — handover, opening up, travel between sites, or a deduction — Fix: Log every minute worked for a fortnight, including before and after shift times, and compare with what was paid. This is where nearly all underpayment is found.

You were charged for a uniform

Cause: A deduction for something required for the job reduces minimum wage pay — Fix: Work out whether the deduction took you below the rate in that pay period. If it did, raise it with the employer and then with the enforcement body.

You did an unpaid two-day trial

Cause: Beyond the point at which a trial is likely to be payable — Fix: Write asking for payment for the hours worked, then use the pay and work rights complaint form. The government's own guidance is that a trial longer than a day is likely to attract the minimum wage.

Questions people ask

What if I am underpaid for years?

Enforcement recalculates arrears at the current rate for the age band that applied at the time, which means the sum owed is more than the original shortfall. A civil claim can reach back six years.

Do tips count towards the minimum wage?

Tips are dealt with by their own legislation on fair allocation and are not a substitute for paying the minimum wage. Check the current GOV.UK guidance on tips as well as on minimum wage.

Am I entitled if I am an intern?

It depends on whether you are a worker in substance — doing real work under an obligation — rather than on the label. Genuine volunteers, and student placements of up to a year as part of a course, are excluded. Many unpaid internships are unlawful.

Does it apply in Northern Ireland?

Yes. The minimum wage is a UK-wide matter with the same rates and the same complaints route, though the forum for a claim is the Industrial Tribunal and conciliation is through the Labour Relations Agency.