Young workers' pay

Q: Now that the law against age discrimination has come in, can an employer pay workers under 21 less than older workers?

A: As the government made the national minimum wage (NMW) legislation exempt from the age regulations, it remains lawful to pay workers according to the age bands used for the NMW.

If an employer uses those same age bands - setting a different rate of pay for workers aged 16-17, 18-21 and 22-plus - this will not amount to age discrimination, as long as the workers in the lower age bands are paid less than the adult NMW rate (currently £5.35 an hour). If over-21s are paid £7.00 an hour, say, it is legal to pay under-21s £5.00 an hour - but unlawful to pay them £6.00 an hour.