Minimum Wage Calculator, 2026/27
Before finalising pay for a new starter or reviewing existing staff, a director needs quick confidence that pay clears the legal minimum. Enter hours and pay for any age band and see the applicable rate and any shortfall immediately.
The minimum wage calculator runs on the rates and thresholds HMRC has published for the 2026/27 tax year, so the figures you see reflect the position your company is actually filing on rather than a historic set of bands. Change any input and the result recalculates immediately, with no sign-up and nothing sent anywhere.
If you are a director of a UK limited company, use it as a first look before a decision rather than as the decision itself. 2026/27 rates: £12.71 for 21+, £10.85 for 18-20, £8.00 for under 18, and £8.00 for apprentices. Real company positions bring in other income, reliefs, group structures and prior year adjustments that a single page of inputs cannot see, which is why the workings are written out below under payroll, paye & employment. Read those, then check the numbers against your own accounts, and speak to us if anything looks materially different from what you expected.
Last reviewed 12 September 2026 for the 2026/27 tax year. Reviewed by Waqas Sagar, Member of ICAEW, Fellow of ACCA, Fellow of AAT.
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Result, 2026/27
Effective hourly rate paid
Legal minimum hourly rate for this band
Minimum weekly pay required
Shortfall (if any)
Underpayment riskIllustration only, figures are based on the rates you have selected and the information entered. Please check your own position with us before acting.
Estimates for the 2026/27 tax year using published GOV.UK rates. Switch between 2026/27 and 2025/26 above.
How this is calculated
This calculator divides gross weekly pay by hours actually worked to find the effective hourly rate, then compares it against the correct statutory minimum for the worker's age band: £12.71 for 21 and over, £10.85 for 18 to 20 year-olds, £8.00 for under 18s, and £8.00 for apprentices meeting the qualifying conditions.
The comparison is deliberately done on effective hourly rate rather than headline salary, because minimum wage compliance depends on what is actually earned per hour worked, including any additional unpaid hours that are a requirement of the job, such as pre-shift briefings or travel between client sites during work.
Where the effective rate falls below the legal minimum, this shows as a shortfall, which needs correcting through back pay; HMRC can also issue penalties on top of arrears for confirmed underpayments.
Common reasons pay falls short without anyone intending it
Salaried staff on an annual salary divided into equal monthly payments can still fail minimum wage checks in months with more working days, or where unpaid overtime is expected. Deductions for training costs, uniforms the worker must buy, or tips being wrongly counted towards basic pay are other frequent causes.
Piece work and output-based pay have their own separate minimum wage calculation method (using a fair estimate agreement), which this calculator does not cover, since it assumes pay is based on hours worked rather than units produced.
What to do about a shortfall
If this calculator shows a shortfall, the correct response is to pay the arrears immediately and review pay going forward, ideally checked against actual hours worked at the point of each pay run, not just at the start of employment.
Repeated or serious underpayment can lead to HMRC naming the employer publicly and financial penalties of up to 200% of the arrears, on top of repaying the shortfall itself, so proactively checking rates, especially around annual rate rises each April, is worthwhile.
What this means for your company
Treat the result as a planning figure for the 2026/27 tax year. If it changes what you were about to do, take a director's salary, a dividend, a large asset purchase or a filing decision, check it against your own accounts first. We can review the position with you and confirm the tax treatment before you commit.
Frequently asked questions
What is the National Living Wage for 2026/27?
£12.71 an hour for workers aged 21 and over, effective from 1 April 2026.
Why might salaried staff still be underpaid?
Because minimum wage compliance is based on the effective hourly rate for hours actually worked, so unpaid extra hours, deductions for uniform or tools, or a fixed monthly salary in a month with more shifts can push the effective rate below the legal minimum.
Do tips count towards the National Minimum Wage?
No, tips and service charges cannot be counted towards minimum wage pay; basic pay alone must meet the minimum, separate from any tips distributed to staff.
What happens if HMRC finds an underpayment?
The employer must pay the arrears at current rates, and HMRC can issue a penalty of up to 200% of the arrears, alongside potential public naming for serious or repeated breaches.
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