8 - London Living Wage and the National Minimum Wage
All Direct Payments users are recommended to pay their staff the London Living Wage. The National Minimum Wage is the legal minimum.
Living Wage
The figure is recommended by the Living Wage Foundation based on the cost of living, but is not a legal requirement.
- The current London Living Wage is £13.15 per hour (from October 2023)
It is calculated independently to reflect the high cost of living in the capital, giving a worker in London and their family enough to afford the essentials and to save.
National Minimum Wage
The National Minimum Wage is the minimum pay per hour almost all workers are entitled to by law. You can use the calculator for employers to check if you’re paying the correct minimum wage or if you owe a payment from the previous year.
Current rates
These rates are for the National Living Wage (for those aged 21 and over) and the National Minimum Wage (for those of at least school leaving age) from 1 April 2024:
- 21 and over - £11.44
- 18 to 20 - £8.60
Statutory Maternity, Paternity, Adoption and Shared Parental Pay
Use the maternity and paternity calculator for employers to calculate your employee’s SMP, paternity or adoption pay, their qualifying week, average weekly earnings and leave period.
Statutory Sick Pay (SSP)
The same weekly SSP rate applies to all employees. However, the amount you must actually pay an employee for each day they’re off work due to illness (the daily rate) depends on the number of ‘qualifying days’ (QDs) they work each week. Use the SSP calculator to work out your employee’s sick pay