How much is the minimum wage going up?

From 1 April, employees 21 and over will be entitled to the National Living Wage. The rate will be £11. 44 an hour, up from £10. 42 an hour.

The Real Living Wage - a higher amount voluntarily paid by some UK businesses - will remain the same. From 1 April, the National Minimum Wage will apply to younger employees between 16 and 20. It will be £6. 40 an hour, up from £5.

The government says this is the largest ever cash increase to the minimum wage. If all salaries were arranged in order, the median wage would be the one at the middle point - with half above and half below. Charity says more than 460,000 employees working for 14,000 firms currently receive the Real Living Wage.

The rate for workers in the capital - sometimes called the London Living Wage - is £13. 15 an hour. A qualifying full-time worker in London would earn £5,323 more than someone on the National Living wage. 1 in 8 UK jobs pay less than its suggested hourly rate.

Highest concentration of low-paid jobs in the north-east of England. It is a criminal offence if employers fail to pay the correct National Minimum and Living Wages to their workers. If you think you are being paid incorrectly, you can complain via the HMRC website. Firms fined nearly £7m and told to reimburse 63,000 workers over several years.

Companies included Marks and Spencer, Argos and Lloyds Pharmacy. WH Smith was the worst offender, having failed to pay over £1m to more than 17,600 workers.

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