Pay Rises For The Lowest Paid Workers Come Into Force Today

Today (Tuesday 1st April 2025) is the day when the increases in the National Minimum Wage and the National Living Wage come into effect. The lowest paid workers will find that they have more money in their pocket at the end of this week, and they will probably need it with energy bills and council tax rates amongst other things set to rise too.

It is only right that these increases are coming into effect, however it doesn’t make it any easier for many businesses who are already struggling to pay the bills. They have to deal with the double whammy of increases in the National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage, together with an increase in employers National Insurance contributions which comes into effect on April 6th.

For those unsure of the difference between the National Minimum Wage (NMW) and the National Living Wage (NLW), the NLW applies to workers aged 21 and over, whilst the NMW applies to people aged 21 and under. The NLW is a higher rate than the NMW, however both are legally mandated minimum wage rates.

170,000 Workers To Get Pay Increase

It is estimated that approximately 170,000 working people in Northern Ireland will get an increase in their wages as of today. Here are the changes to the NLW and NMW as copied from an article on the BBC News website:

The National Living Wage has applied to those 21 and over since April 2024 – previously you had to be 23 to receive it.

“The National Minimum Wage is for younger employees aged between 16 and 20.

“The government announced the wage increases in the Budget last September – they mean:

• The National Living Wage has gone up by 6.7%, from £11.44 to £12.21 per hour
• The National Minimum Wage for 18 to 20-year-olds has increased by 16%, from £8.60 to £10 per hour
• The National Minimum Wage for under-18s has gone up by 18%, from £6.40 to £7.55 per hour
• The apprenticeship rate, which applies to eligible people under 19 or those over 19 in the first year of an apprenticeship, has increased by the same amount.

Increases Will Make A Significant Impact To Businesses

And in the same article Chief strategy officer Gavin Annon from Mount Charles, who provide support services and employ about 3,500 people, said about these increases:

“This impact, between National Insurance and National Living Wage is roughly an extra £2.5m to us, so it’s significant.

“We’re a low-margin business as it is so we can only pass that cost on to our clients so much. It’s been a huge ask for us to try and find a way to mitigate this.”

Mr Annon said the change is “frustrating” but the company will “have to be smarter with the resources that we deploy”.

“The rubber hasn’t hit the road on this yet – it’s only coming into place this week – so as and when you see that impact, I think it will change attitudes and behaviour in terms of what this actually looks like,” he added.”

We will have to see how this all works out over the coming weeks. We are in very uncertain times so it would be crazy to even try to predict what is around the corner, but there will no doubt be more turbulence to negotiate for our embattled business owners.