New National Minimum Wage Rates
The National Minimum Wage (Amendment) Regulations 2025 came into force on 1 April and provided for the following changes to the National Living Wage (NLW) and the National Minimum…
Apr 01, 2025

The National Minimum Wage (Amendment) Regulations 2025 came into force on 1 April and provided for the following changes to the National Living Wage (NLW) and the National Minimum Wage (NMW) rates:
- The NLW, which applies to those aged 21 and over, will increase from £11.44 to £12.21 per hour;
- The NMW for 18- to 20-year-olds will increase from £8.60 to £10.00 per hour;
- The NMW for 16- and 17-year-olds will increase from £6.40 to £7.55 per hour; and
- The apprentice rate of the NMW, which applies to apprentices aged under 19 or those aged 19 or over and in the first year of their apprenticeship, will increase from £6.40 to £7.55 per hour.
The accommodation offset will increase from £9.99 to £10.66 per day for each day during the pay period that accommodation is provided.


Healthcare Support Agency Overturns Direct Race Discrimination Finding
A finding of race discrimination is always an extremely serious matter and that is why a rigorous approach to evidence and proof is required of Employment Tribunals (ETs). In one case, a healthcare support agency accused of subjecting a black worker to less favourable treatment succeeded in showing that that high standard was not met.
The worker claimed that the agency failed to respond as it should have done after he twice complained that he had been racially abused by members of another…

Unconventional NHS Job Interview Infected by Discrimination, ET Rules
Many employers understandably prefer an informal atmosphere when interviewing job candidates. However, as an Employment Tribunal (ET) ruling showed, there is always a risk that such an approach may leave room for bias or discrimination to creep unintentionally into the selection process.
The case concerned a man of mature years who applied to an NHS trust for a post as a project manager. The five candidates were encouraged to make original, fun yet thoughtful and punchy presentations. In…

Can Exhaustion from Overwork Be a Disability? Guideline ET Ruling
Many people have highly demanding jobs that leave them feeling worn out – but can such work-related exhaustion amount to a disability? An Employment Tribunal (ET) addressed that issue in the case of an NHS consultant whose workload and other commitments were, by any standards, punishing.
On some days, the consultant worked up to 12-13 hours. His commute to work on two days a week took between two and a half and three hours, one way. He had heavy caring responsibilities for his wife, who had…