The concept of a minimum wage, was first introduced, as a means to contain the proliferation of sweat shops, where large amounts of young workers where paid well below, what was considered to be an acceptable hourly rate. In order to break the stranglehold of sweatshop owners over their "personnel", minimum wages were put in place, in order to ensure those workers would get paid fairly. Later on the focus shifted, to assisting people, in order to become self sufficient. Currently minimum wages cover almost any field of employment, in the low pay segment.

There are as many supporters for minimum wages, as there are people against it, for several reasons:
Supporters of minimum wages claim it helps reducing poverty and has positive effects on working conditions and the quality of living for low paid personnel, while those against claim that it increases the ,level of unemployment, and presents unfair competition for less productive workers, or those with a disability, as they cannot compete with regular workers on rates.

However, to this day, legislation regarding minimum wages are in effect, and apply to almost every industry in the united Kingdom.
Every employee legally working in the United Kingdom, is entitled to a set minimum pay per hour, which is referred to as minimum wages. While it certainly is possible to get paid more than this minimum wage, it is not allowed for employers to pay below this level of pay.

This minimum wage, applies to all workers of legal age, who are working in the United Kingdom, including: employees older then the required school age, (temporary)workers, brought in from overseas, even if they are in the UK on a temporary basis, employees who work at home, sailors(military), government employees, and agricultural employees
Still there also are several types of employment the minimum wage rules do not apply to, which are: self employed business owners and freelancers, military personnel, with the exception of marines, prisoners, voluntary(charity) workers and persons younger then the legal compulsory school age.

The minimum wage per hour varies on a yearly basis, and different rates apply to different age groups.

In case an employee find himself to be receiving less than the minimum wages he is entitled to, a call to the Pay and Work Rights Helpline is a good place to start. This helpline will act upon your complaint and treats all reports of wages below the legally required minimum confidential. This helpline is also available for any questions that may rise, regarding the minimum wages.

the Pay and Work Rights Helpline can be reached at 0800 917 2368 from Mondays to Fridays, and Saturday mornings.