4. Pay and conditions

This Chapter highlights the key rulings in 2017 concerning pay and conditions, including the national minimum wage, holiday pay and rest breaks.

All workers, from day one of employment, are entitled to a set of basic rights.

The national minimum wage rate changes takes effect on 1 April. As at 1 April 2017, the hourly rate for workers aged 25 and older was £7.50. Information on the full range of national minimum wage rates is available at: www.gov.uk/national-minimum-wage-rates. The rates are adjusted each year on 1 April.

All workers are entitled to 5.6 weeks’ paid holiday each year. Holiday pay should equate to a worker’s normal remuneration, that is the pay they would normally have earned, had they not been on holiday.

All workers are entitled to an uninterrupted rest break away from their work station of at least 20 minutes if the working day exceeds six hours. There is no statutory requirement for the break to be paid. In unionised workplaces, breaks on terms better than the statutory minimum (in particular, paid breaks) will often have been negotiated.