Employment Law

6. Other Rights

6.1 Employees have the right to the national minimum wage which stands at £5.52 for employees aged 22 and over (£5.73 from 1 October 2008).

• There is a lower minimum wage of £4.60 for those aged 18 to 21 and £3.40 for those aged 16 and 17 (£4.77 and £3.53 respectively from 1 October 2008).
• Casual staff, agency staff and home workers also have a right to this wage.

6.2 Each employee must get a pay statement.

• This must show total gross pay, deductions and net pay.
• Deductions must be itemised. Apart from income tax and National Insurance (NI), deductions can only be made with the employee's agreement or to correct previous overpayments.

6.3 When a business is transferred to a new owner, all employee rights usually remain.

6.4 Trade unions and their members have extra rights (eg time off for union duties).