1. Overview


This means that however someone gets paid, they still need to work out their equivalent hourly rate to see if they’re getting the minimum wage.

There are different ways of checking that workers get the minimum wage depending on whether they are:

Use the National Minimum Wage calculator to check if payments are over the minimum wage.

What counts as working time

For all types of work, include time spent:

  • training or travelling to training

Don’t include time spent:

  • travelling between home and work
  • on industrial action

Example 1

A care worker has 2 appointments in the morning and doesn’t take any breaks. The worker must be paid at least the minimum wage for the time he spends at the appointments, plus the travel time between appointments.

Example 2 A care worker has 2 appointments, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. After the first appointment he goes home to have a break before he goes to his afternoon appointment. The time spent travelling from the first appointment to his home and from his home to the second appointment doesn’t count towards the minimum wage.

If the care worker didn’t go home but took a break on the way to his next appointment, he would be paid for any travel time but not for the break.

Example 3 A care worker has one appointment in the morning, then goes to the office to work there. At the office she is entitled to a 30-minute break. Then she goes to another appointment in the afternoon.

The worker must be paid at least the minimum wage for the time at the appointments, plus the travel time to and from the office. The break at the office doesn’t count towards her minimum wage calculation.

Call the Acas helpline for advice about the National Minimum Wage.