New increases for the National Minimum wage and other statutory payments from April 2026

The National Minimum Wage 

The Government has accepted the Low Pay Commission’s (LPC) recommendations and the  National Minimum wage will rise again from 1st April 2026. 

Here are the updated rates:

• National Living Wage (NLW) for those aged 21 and over: £12.71 (currently £12.21) which is a rise of 4.1%.
• Rate for 18-20 year olds: £10.85 (currently £10.00).
• Rate for 16-17 year olds: £8.00 (currently £7.55).
• Apprentice rate: £8.00 (currently £7.55).
• Accommodation offset: £11.10 (currently £10.66).

According to the LPC:

“For an NLW worker working 37.5 hours per week, the increases announced … will increase their annual gross pay by £977 and their monthly gross pay by £81.47”. The minimum wage for 18-20 year olds will increase by 8.5% and so narrows the gap with the NLW. 

Statutory Sick Pay

Not only is it proposed in the Employment Rights bill for the waiting period to be removed for statutory sick pay, but the amount of statutory sick pay is also set to increase from April 2026 to £123.25 which is an increase from £118.75.

Statutory Pay for Family Friendly Rights

The weekly rate for statutory maternity pay, maternity allowance, statutory adoption pay, statutory paternity pay, statutory shared parental pay, statutory neonatal care pay, and statutory parental bereavement pay will increase to £194.32, rising from £187.18.

Employers will need to prepare for these increases from April 2026.

For the full list of increases, please see the link below:

Proposed benefit and pension rates 2026 to 2027

The contents of this article is a general guide only at the date of publication. It is not comprehensive, and it does not constitute legal advice. Specific legal advice should be sought in relation to the particular facts of a given situation.