NMWM12020 | Records, evidence, powers and offences: records

Relevant legislation

The legislation that applies to this page is as follows:

• National Minimum Wage Regulations 2015, regulation 59

General

Employers are legally required to keep sufficient records to show that they are meeting their National Minimum Wage obligations and paying their workers at least National Minimum Wage.

Records for National Minimum Wage do not have to be kept in any particular format, for example, they can be kept on paper or on computer. However, the records are required to be kept in a form which enables the information kept about a worker in respect of a pay reference period to be produced in a single document (NMWM12030) and from 1 April 2021 the records must be retained by the employer for a minimum of 6 years beginning with the day the pay reference period following the one that the records cover ends (for information on the requirement to retain records before 1 April 2021 see NMWM12040).

Whilst the legislation requires the employer to keep and retain records it does not stipulate exactly what type of records must be kept. As long as the records can show that workers have been paid at least National Minimum Wage for the time that they have worked , the employer can choose to keep their records in any way they so wish. It is entirely possible that employers will be able to use their payroll records to show levels of pay to workers and already have systems to show time worked. The type of business records which may be relevant include;

Where an employer is operating daily average agreements (NMWM07120) or paying “fair piece” rates (NMWM03130), supporting documentation will be necessary to demonstrate that they are realistic.

Failure to keep sufficient records to demonstrate that at least National Minimum Wage has been paid is a criminal offence (NMWM12250).