Minimum wage for apprentices

Apprentices are for the first time now covered by a national minimum wage (NMW). From 1 October the new NMW regulations mean young people aged 19 and under will earn £2.50 an hour.

Previously, apprentices who were either aged under 19, or who were over 19 and in the first year of their apprenticeship, did not qualify for the NMW. A person will be treated as an apprentice if they are a worker who has a contract of apprenticeship, which includes someone with a traditional contract of apprenticeship or who is a worker and taking part in a particular government training scheme.

The move has been welcomed by the TUC, which described it as providing “significant gains for apprentices and young workers.”