Minimum Wage Checker 2026/27
Is your pay legal? The April 2026 rates are £12.71 an hour (21+), £10.85 (18–20) and £8.00 (16–17 and apprentices). Enter your pay and the hours you actually work — including unpaid overtime — to get a verdict.
- Rates: GOV.UK — checked 5 Nov 2026
- Tested against HMRC worked examples
- Your salary never leaves your browser
From the second year, apprentices aged 19 or over get the rate for their age band.
Hours you work but are not paid for — the classic trap.
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Verdict
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- Legal minimum
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- Your effective rate
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- Shortfall / hour
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| Legal minimum (your band) | — |
|---|---|
| Your effective hourly rate | — |
| Shortfall per week | — |
| Shortfall per year | — |
Rates checked 5 November 2026.
Every figure checked against HMRC's own examples.
Your salary never leaves your browser.
Rates re-checked by hand after every Budget.
Rates: GOV.UK — last checked 5 November 2026 See the official rates
How this is calculated
Your legal minimum comes from the April 2026 rates in the 2026/27 rates file: £12.71 an hour at 21+, £10.85 at 18–20, £8.00 at 16–17, and £8.00 for apprentices under 19 or in their first year. Your effective hourly rate is your pay divided by all the hours you actually work — contracted hours plus unpaid overtime. If you are salaried, your annual salary is divided by your total weekly hours × 52. If the effective rate is below the legal minimum, you are underpaid by the shortfall shown. Rates last checked against GOV.UK on 5 November 2026. See the full method on How we calculate.
The April 2026 rates
| Age band | Rate from 1 April 2026 |
|---|---|
| National Living Wage (21+) | £12.71 / hour |
| 18–20 | £10.85 / hour |
| 16–17 | £8.00 / hour |
| Apprentice | £8.00 / hour |
Example — £24,000 salary, 40 hours a week
£24,000 ÷ (40 × 52) = £11.54 an hour — below the £12.71 National Living Wage for a worker aged 21+, a shortfall of £1.17 an hour, or £2,433.60 a year. Add 5 unpaid overtime hours a week and the effective rate falls to £10.26 an hour. A salary that looks fine on paper can fail the test once real hours are counted.
Related calculators & reading
- Minimum wage 2026: the age bands and how to check your pay — the full explainer behind this tool.
- Take-home pay calculator — what your pay is worth after tax and NI.
- Statutory Sick Pay calculator — the statutory floor when you are off sick.
- UK tax rates 2026/27 — every band, threshold and allowance behind these figures.
Questions
What is the minimum wage in 2026/27?
From 1 April 2026: £12.71 an hour for workers aged 21 and over (the National Living Wage), £10.85 for 18 to 20 year olds, and £8.00 for 16 to 17 year olds and for apprentices (under 19, or 19+ in the first year of their apprenticeship). These are the April 2026 rates — older articles quoting £12.21 or £10.00 are out of date.
How do I know if I am being underpaid?
Work out your effective hourly rate: your total pay divided by every hour you actually worked, including unpaid overtime. If that figure is below the legal rate for your age band, you are being underpaid — even if your headline hourly rate looks fine. This checker does that maths for you.
Does unpaid overtime count towards the minimum wage?
Yes — that is the classic trap. The minimum wage is tested on all hours actually worked. If your contract says 40 hours but you regularly work 45, your pay is spread over 45 hours, and your effective rate can fall below the legal minimum even on a decent-looking salary.
What can I do if I am underpaid?
Start with a polite written query to your employer — underpayment is often a payroll error and the arrears must be paid back. If that does not work, ACAS offers free advice, and HMRC investigates minimum-wage complaints and can order back-pay plus a fine. Keep your payslips and a record of the hours you actually worked.
Is my information sent anywhere?
No. The checker runs entirely in your browser. Nothing you enter is sent to a server, stored, or shared.
The rates behind this checker: 2026/27 rates, sourced from GOV.UK.