| Guvnor

Enforced by: HMRC, Fair Work Agency
Status: Amended (in force with amendments)
Penalty ceiling: Prosecution 2 of 6 obligations carry an unlimited fine. 4 have no criminal penalty — flagged in the list below.

Does it bind you?

Business-side roles with duties under this instrument.

Employer4 Director or Officer1

Plus 1 duty on the regulator, Crown ministers and public bodies — folded into the section list below.

Other Acts binding the same actors

If a role above is yours, these are the other instruments that most often bind it.

Employer — also bound by 682 other Acts

The Income Tax (Pay As You Earn) Regulations 2003 241 duties

Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 120 duties

TULRCA 1992 72 duties

Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003 54 duties

Employment Rights (Northern Ireland) Order 1996 (current NI employment law) 53 duties

Director or Officer — also bound by 429 other Acts

Insolvency (England and Wales) Rules 2016 162 duties

Companies Act 2006 126 duties

Insolvency Act 1986 77 duties

The Large and Medium-sized Companies and Groups (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 68 duties

Building Societies Act 1986 32 duties

What it requires

Sections creating concrete business duties or carrying penalties, grouped as the instrument is structured. Titles link to the source text — blue means you’re leaving for legislation.gov.uk.

s.001 Workers to be paid at least the national minimum wage. Regulated

Pay workers at least the national minimum wageEmployer

s.017 Non-compliance: worker entitled to additional remuneration. Regulated

Pay additional remuneration for National Minimum Wage underpaymentsEmployer

s.024 Enforcement of the right. Regulated

Other duties (1) — Crown / regulator

Tribunal must determine complaints and award compensation for detrimentsTribunal / Court

s.031 Offences. Prosecution

Fail to pay National Minimum Wage or keep proper recordsEmployer
Fail to pay the national minimum wageEmployer

Unlimited fine

s.032 Offences by bodies corporate etc. Prosecution

Personal liability for company Minimum Wage offencesDirector or Officer

Unlimited fine

71 other provisions — procedural and definitional

s.002 Determination of hourly rate of remuneration.

s.003 Exclusion of, and modifications for, certain classes of person.

s.004 Power to add to the persons to whom section 3 applies.

s.005 The first regulations: referral to the Low Pay Commission.

s.006 Referral of matters to the Low Pay Commission at any time.

s.007 Referrals to, and reports of, the Low Pay Commission: supplementary.

s.008 The Low Pay Commission.

s.009 Duty of employers to keep records.

s.010 Worker’s right of access to records.

s.011 Failure of employer to allow access to records.

s.011 Extension of time limit to facilitate conciliation before institution of proceedings

s.012 Employer to provide worker with national minimum wage statement.

s.013 Appointment of officers.

s.014 Powers of officers.

s.015 Information obtained by officers.

s.016 Information obtained by agricultural wages officers.

s.016 Disclosure of information by officers

s.018 Enforcement in the case of special classes of worker.

s.019 Notices of underpayment: arrears

s.019 Notices of underpayment: financial penalty

s.019 Suspension of financial penalty

s.019 Notices of underpayment: appeals

s.019 Non-compliance with notice of underpayment: recovery of arrears

s.019 Non-compliance with notice of underpayment: recovery of penalty

s.019 Withdrawal of notice of underpayment

s.019 Replacement notice of underpayment

s.019 Effect of replacement notice of underpayment

s.020 Non-compliance: power of officer to sue on behalf of worker.

s.021 Financial penalty for non-compliance.

s.022 Appeals against penalty notices.

s.022 Withdrawal of enforcement notice

s.022 Replacement of enforcement notice

s.022 Effect of replacement on penalties where section 22A(3) not applied

s.022 Effect of replacement on appeals and civil proceedings where section 22A(3) not applied

s.022 Withdrawal of penalty notice

s.022 Replacement of penalty notice with notice imposing lower penalty

s.023 The right not to suffer detriment.

s.025 Right of employee not to be unfairly dismissed: Great Britain.

s.026 Right of employee not to be unfairly dismissed: Northern Ireland.

s.027 Tribunal hearings etc by chairman alone.

s.028 Reversal of burden of proof.

s.029 Appeals to the Employment Appeal Tribunal.

s.030 Conciliation.

s.033 Proceedings for offences.

s.034 Agency workers who are not otherwise “workers”.

s.035 Home workers who are not otherwise “workers”.

s.036 Crown employment.

s.037 Armed forces.

s.037 Cadet Force Adult Volunteers

s.038 House of Lords staff.

s.039 House of Commons staff.

s.040 Mariners.

s.041 Power to apply Act to individuals who are not otherwise “workers”.

s.042 Power to apply Act to offshore employment.

s.043 Share fishermen.

s.044 Voluntary workers.

s.044 Religious and other communities: resident workers.

s.045 Prisoners.

s.045 Persons discharging fines by unpaid work

s.045 Immigration: detained persons

s.046 Relationship of this Act and agricultural wages legislation.

s.047 Amendments relating to remuneration etc of agricultural workers.

s.048 Application of Act to superior employers.

s.049 Restrictions on contracting out.

s.050 Publicity.

s.051 Regulations and orders.

s.052 Expenses.

s.053 Repeals and revocations.

s.054 Meaning of “worker”, “employee” etc.

s.055 Interpretation.

s.056 Short title, commencement and extent.

Schedules

0 of 35 shown

35 other schedules

s.002 Amendments relating to remuneration etc of agricultural workers

s.sch001 The Low Pay Commission

s.sch001 (1) The Low Pay Commission appointed under section 8(9) of...

s.sch001 (1) The Secretary of State may pay the members of...

s.sch001 The Secretary of State shall provide the Commission with—

s.sch001 (1) The quorum of the Commission and the arrangements relating...

s.sch001 (1) The entry set out in sub-paragraph (2) below shall...

s.sch002 The Agricultural Wages Act 1948 shall be amended in accordance...

s.sch002 After section 17 there shall be inserted— Relationship between this...

s.sch002 The Agricultural Wages (Scotland) Act 1949 shall be amended in...

s.sch002 (1) Section 3 (power of Scottish Agricultural Wages Board to...

s.sch002 After section 3 there shall be inserted— Enforcement. (1) The enforcement provisions of the National Minimum Wage Act...

s.sch002 In section 4 (enforcement of wages and holiday orders) the...

s.sch002 (1) Section 5 (permits to infirm and incapacitated persons) shall...

s.sch002 Section 11(1)(a) (invalidity of certain agreements) shall cease to have...

s.sch002 (1) Section 12 (officers) shall be amended as follows.

s.sch002 After section 15 there shall be inserted— Information obtained by...

s.sch002 (1) Section 17 (interpretation) shall be amended as follows.

s.sch002 (1) Section 3 (power of Agricultural Wages Board to fix...

s.sch002 After section 17 there shall be inserted— Relationship between this...

s.sch002 The Agricultural Wages (Regulation) (Northern Ireland) Order 1977 shall be...

s.sch002 (1) Article 2 (interpretation) shall be amended as follows.

s.sch002 After Article 2 there shall be inserted— Relationship between this...

s.sch002 (1) Article 4 (power of Agricultural Wages Board for Northern...

s.sch002 (1) Article 6 (permits exempting, in certain cases, payment of...

s.sch002 After Article 8 there shall be inserted— Enforcement. (1) The enforcement provisions of the National Minimum Wage Act...

s.sch002 After Article 11 there shall be inserted— Information obtained by...

s.sch002 After section 3 there shall be inserted— Enforcement. (1) The enforcement provisions of the National Minimum Wage Act...

s.sch002 (1) In section 4 (enforcement of wages and holidays orders)...

s.sch002 (1) Section 5 (permits to incapacitated persons) shall be amended...

s.sch002 Section 11(1)(a) (invalidity of certain agreements) shall cease to have...

s.sch002 (1) Section 12 (officers) shall be amended as follows.

s.sch002 After section 15 there shall be inserted— Information obtained by...

s.sch002 (1) Section 17 (interpretation) shall be amended as follows.

s.sch003 Repeals and revocations

Help complying

Guvnor’s practical routes through this instrument.

Stop your sole trader business

Step-by-step guide to closing your self-employment - telling HMRC, filing final returns, and keeping required records

Transfer ownership of your business

Plan and execute business succession - family transfers, management buyouts, partner buyouts, or employee ownership

Manage your employees

A comprehensive journey for UK employers covering the full employment lifecycle - from ongoing payroll and compliance duties through to managing workforce …

Start a restaurant

Open a restaurant, cafe, or food business

Sell your business

Navigate the business sale process from preparation to completion and beyond - valuation, finding buyers, due diligence, TUPE, deal negotiation, and post-sale …

Close your company

Choose the right route to close your limited company - voluntary strike-off, Members' Voluntary Liquidation, or dealing with debts

National Minimum Wage, tips, and pay compliance in hospitality

How to ensure NMW compliance in hospitality, covering the accommodation offset, why tips cannot count towards minimum wage, unpaid trial shift rules, …

Paying the National Minimum Wage

Your obligations for minimum wage and record keeping.

Salary sacrifice pension arrangements

How salary sacrifice works for pension contributions. Covers NI savings for employer and employee, contractual requirements, interaction with the National Minimum Wage, …

6 more guides that reference this instrument

Domestic employer: compliance checklist Set up and run your duties as a domestic employer The complete employment lifecycle: employer responsibilities from hire to exit Before you hire your first employee Hospitality sector market overview Keep business records after closing

Connected legislation

Instruments made under this Act. They carry the detail the Act delegates.

National Minimum Wage Regulations 2015 SI 2015

Duty extraction and severity labels are Guvnor’s analysis of the instrument, not the instrument itself. Always verify against the linked source text.