If the work isn’t covered by any of the other types of work, it’s ‘unmeasured work’.
Unmeasured work includes being paid a set amount to do a particular task, eg being paid £500 to lay a patio, regardless of how long it takes.
To work out the minimum wage for unmeasured work, either:
- record every hour worked and use the National Minimum Wage calculator to make sure the worker gets the minimum wage
- make a ‘daily average agreement of hours’
Daily average agreement of hours
This is when the employer and worker agree a typical number of hours per day they expect to work on average. One agreement can cover several pay reference periods (eg weeks if the worker’s paid weekly) if there’s no change in the average number of hours.
Daily average agreements of hours must:
- be agreed in writing
- be made before the start of the pay reference period they cover
- say how many hours the work should take each day (on average)
The employer must be able to prove that the number of hours worked on average is realistic.
Louise is paid weekly and is 31. She’s eligible for the minimum wage rate of £6.50 an hour.
In a particular week she’s paid £120.
Her agreed daily average number of hours is 5.
In that week she worked for 4 days, so she’s counted as having worked 20 hours that week (4 times 5).
£120 divided by 20 hours gives a rate of £6 an hour. That’s less than the National Minimum Wage.