National Minimum Wage Act 1998
It was a flagship policy of the Labour Party in the UK during their successful 1997 general election campaign.
These were gradually dismantled until the Trade Union Reform and Employment Rights Act 1993 abolished the 26 final wages councils, which had protected around 2,500,000 low-paid workers.
[citation needed] Part of the reason for the shift in Labour's minimum wage policy was the decline of trade union membership over recent decades (weakening employees' bargaining power),[2] as well as a recognition that the employees most vulnerable to low pay, especially in service industries, were rarely unionised in the first place.
Labour had returned to government in 1997 after 18 years in opposition, and a minimum wage had been a party policy since as far back as 1986, under the leadership of Neil Kinnock.
[6] The implementation of a minimum wage was opposed by the Conservative Party[2] and supported by the Liberal Democrats.
[7] The NMW rates are reviewed each year by the Low Pay Commission, which makes recommendations for change to the Government.
In November 2023, Jeremy Hunt announced that all workers over 21 would receive the National Living Wage of £11.44 per hour from April 2024 onwards.
The policy was opposed by the Conservative Party at the time of implementation, who argued that it would create extra costs for businesses and would cause unemployment.
In 1996, The Conservative Party's future leader, David Cameron, standing as a prospective Member of Parliament for Stafford, had said that the minimum wage "would send unemployment straight back up".
[26] While Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, future Conservative Prime Minister, supported the London living wage, ensuring that all City Hall employees and subcontracted workers earn at least £7.60 an hour and promoting the wage to employers across the city.
[31] The motion calling for a £15 an hour minimum wage was put forward by the Unite union.
[31] Labour Party leader Keir Starmer and his leadership team did not indicate a preference either in favour or against the motion.
- Adult rate is for employees aged 21 and over from 2010, and 22 and over prior to then.
- Development rate is for employees aged 18–20 from 2010, and 18–21 prior to then.
- 16–17 year-olds' rate was introduced in 2004.
- Apprentice rate was introduced in 2010, and merged with the 16–17 year-olds' rate in 2022.
- National Living Wage was introduced in April 2016. It applied to employees aged 25 and over until April 2021, then aged 23 and over until April 2024, when it became the Adult rate for all employees aged 21 and over.
