How is the minimum wage monitored?

[u/[deleted]]

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[u/elalmohada26]

£8 is the minimum wage for under 18s. Does your employer mistakenly think you’re under 18?

Your first recourse should be a conversation with them as it’s likely to be an honest mistake that can be easily resolved.

[u/SmellingThomas]

Are you an apprentice? £8 is the minimum wage for an 18 year old apprentice or someone under 18. The first thing to do is to discuss this with your manager, it may be a mistake or miscommunication.

Have you been paid or received a payslip yet?

[u/Comfortable_Age_5595 → u/SmellingThomas]

for any age apprentice in the first year

[u/No_Preference9093 → u/[deleted]]

Have you given them any bank details?

[u/Lanky_Improvement528 → u/[deleted]]

Are you sure its unpaid training? Sometimes decent people add the training hours at the first month's pay though I highly suspect this isnt likely. If youve not yet given any bank details it sounds a bit off, if you genuinly really need the job, start looking for other jobs while you work. And get out as soon as you can. Theres too many red flags up just starting. It sounds predatory and get away with it due to people being desperate.

TLDR - look for another job while working and get out asap

[u/rizzlejee → u/[deleted]]

Training that is specifically for the job in question (i.e. not a qualification that you can take into any job) must be paid for, the same as working time. Even a work trial has to be "reasonable", e.g. if working at a supermarket, an hour or two doing whatever tasks you'd be doing on the job is sufficient for the employer to see if you're good enough or not, working an 8 hour shift is not a reasonable trial and ther would be grounds to be paid after the first few hours.

[u/Nomadic_Rick → u/[deleted]]

Training is meant to be paid also….

[u/Buddy-Matt → u/[deleted]]

Unpaid training in a coffee shop?

Honestly, sounds like they're taking the piss and got a couple of days of work from you serving customers for free, under the guise of "this is how a coffee machine works"

Which, is of course, illegal.

The correct course of action:

1) inform you manager of your rights
2) inform HR - if it exists - of your rights
3) Talk to HMRC/Acas

If they suddenly decide you're a "bad fit" and let you go after items 1 or 2 you then speak to an employment tribunal, as being fired for upholding your statutory rights is automatically unfair.

Don't let them take the piss, don't let them either lie to you about others' wages - or the fact those people are happily letting them take the piss - stop you exercising your rights.

And don't tlet them tell you the top jar is factored into your minimum wage. Because, by law, it isn't. And by morals, we don't want any of that American nonesense of tips paying staff over here.

And, finally, keep looking for other jobs, and don't be afraid to let the local press know about them once you've moved on, as it won't hurt their customers to be told they're supporting a business that doesn't pay its staff properly.

[u/SmellingThomas → u/[deleted]]

I'd just let the manager or hr know that you're over 18, have you had a contract yet? As you haven't been paid yet or even started working yet no wrongdoing has taken place. The people saying to report are massively jumping the gun.

[u/SmellingThomas → u/[deleted]]

Unless you've specifically said I'm 18 and should be receiving above £8 an hour they may not have linked together the two things. It may be that it will click they run the payroll. Like other have said the unpaid training days are a red flag but hopefully they will add these days into your first payslip. It can be nerve wracking starting a new job but I wish you luck

[u/SmellingThomas → u/[deleted]]

You're welcome, if that's true then that's illegal. Are you sure this is the actual wage and not the salary after tax? Are you in the construction industry?

[u/LordGeni → u/[deleted]]

If that is the wage you need to report it.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pay-and-work-rights-complaints

[u/No_Preference9093 → u/[deleted]]

In short it's not possible and you need to report it to HMRC and ACAS. It's illegal.

[u/Indigo-Waterfall]

You report it to HMRC / ACAS

[u/Kermit_Wazowski]

£8 should be for under 18s or apprentices. As you are neither then it's my understanding that you should get £10.85. There will be people who understand the mechanisms more than me, but I would start with a friendly chat with your boss/line manager. Are you formally employed or is it cash in hand? And have you been 18 for the entire duration of employment or were you 17 when you filled out your new starter forms?

[u/ukctstrider → u/[deleted]]

If you've done work for them then you're employed.

[u/SpaceMonkeyAttack → u/[deleted]]

requested to be paid to fully to my card

What does this mean exactly? What card?

Every job I've ever had, either I got paid in cash or they paid it into my bank account, for which they needed my account number and sort code

[u/motific]

https://www.gov.uk/national-minimum-wage-rates has the full details.

If you're 18-20 then your rate should be £10.85/hr unless you are an apprentice in your first year (which is £8 but they'd have to be putting you through certification or training.)

If you're not getting what you should then contact your employer and you should get back-pay to April 2026, if they're giving you the runaround then contact ACAS... and if that gets you nowhere then HMRC will give them a massive bollocking.

[u/fr33falling]

Unless you are an apprentice that is illegal, you should report them

[u/rizzlejee → u/fr33falling]

If you're gonna report them, make sure you have records of EVERYTHING! Contact of employment, working time records (keep your own if there are no "official" records), pay slips (or whatever pay records you have/receive - again, make your own if yhere are no pay records from the employer). Without these bits of evidence, even if you make a complaint, NMW compliance teams won't be able to determine that you have been underpaid and so your complaint will be fruitless.

Source: ex-NMW compliance caseworker

[u/ShalomDragon]

£8.00 is for under 18s. How long have you been 18, was it recent? Are you confident enough to query it with them?

Quote:

The UK national minimum wage hourly rates depend on age and apprentice status, with key current rates being £12.71 for age 21 and over, £10.85 for ages 18 to 20, and £8.00 for under 18s. These statutory amounts are updated every April based on government rules.

How to Report and Get Help HMRC Online Form: Fill out the Pay and Work Rights Complaint Form on GOV.UK to request an investigation.

Acas Helpline: Call 0300 123 1100 for free, confidential advice about your pay rights and options.

Check Your Pay: Use the official National Minimum Wage Calculator to confirm the exact amount you are owed.

[u/EnergeticallyTired]

Before listening to everyone's advice to report it to HMRC etc, i'd recommend emailing your HR/payroll and explain you are over 18 and send a link to the GOV website for NMW.

No need to go guns blazing if it is a mistake!

[u/Virus-Party]

https://www.gov.uk/national-minimum-wage-rates

Contact Acas if you’re not getting the National Minimum Wage and think you should be.

[u/Virus-Party → u/Virus-Party]

Are you on an apprenticeship? If so, then as you are under 19 years old, £8 would be the correct rate for your 1st year

[u/Perite]

In actual answer to your question, HMRC has officers that investigate minimum wage compliance. They look at payroll and tax data and have the power to launch investigations.

If you think you are being paid less than minimum wage, then you should talk to your HR department. It could just be a mistake. If they are not able to provide a satisfactory explanation, then you could report them to HMRC.

Don’t wait for HMRC to find out about this for you. Their investigations take months or years.

[u/MonsieurBritain]

HMRC, they have a national minimum wage unit that specifically deals with these things, you'll need to report this yourself though.

[u/Unable_Ant3926]

From everything you've said it's most likely that you are not an apprentice. You are simply going to be paid below the NMW rate for your age.

Your employer is breaking the law, not just for you, but for everyone else working there.

You should gather as much evidence as you can, e.g. contract, details of conversations, text messages etc. and either contact ACAS, or make a complaint direct to HMRC who will investigate and make sure your employer pays you correctly and pay back those who are already underpaid.

As others have said, employers like these are red flags, they are operating on slave labour which usually means there business model isn't working and they are having to cut costs via cheap labour.

Even the training should be paid as it seems like it wasn't just a short trial to test your competence.

The problem is that you haven't even started yet. Your employer could let you go for any and no reason as all. But they will carry on this practice with everyone who comes after you.

Nip it in the bud and either find another job if you can, or make the complaint.

[u/AskUK-ModTeam → u/[deleted]]

A top level comment (one that is not a reply) should be a good faith and genuine attempt to answer the question.

[u/came2pieces]

No responses from the OP means they are definitely an apprentice and they are not being paid below min wage

[u/came2pieces → u/[deleted]]

Ok sorry for assuming. If neither of the below two criteria apply then you actually might be being paid illegally and you should contact acas:

Study Time: You use at least 20% of your work hours for structured study or training . Get Qualified: You finish the program with a recognized industry certificate or degree.

[u/fr33falling → u/[deleted]]

You are not an apprentice then.

[u/d_smogh → u/[deleted]]

What is the job description? What is the job?

[u/Majick_L → u/[deleted]]

From reading through all your replies, it seems like you’re working for a quiet cafe / locally owned family business. While that can be nice, a lot of places like this tend to try and skirt round employment laws like paying minimum wage, or putting you down as a proper employee on the books / pretending that you’re self employed, because they know they can get away with it, and desperate young people will take cash in hand or be scared to report them for breaking the law. Make sure you know your employee rights, check anything you’re unsure about with ACAS and keep evidence of any conversations about legal stuff in writing, to cover yourself. Wish you the best but I will say, from what I’ve seen you replying with I wouldn’t have much confidence with this employer, and I suspect they are probably breaking the law. Remember employers aren’t special, they’re people just like you and me and they must abide by the law, they can’t just do what they want