Guidance

Self-review of the National Minimum Wage and the National Living Wage — NMW FS2

Updated 16 September 2025

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-minimum-wage-information-for-employers-nmw-fs1/carrying-out-a-self-review-of-the-national-living-wage-and-the-national-minimum-wage-nmw-fs2

This factsheet tells you about compliance checks we carry out to make sure you’re paying your workers at least the National Minimum Wage (NMW) or National Living Wage (NLW).

As part of these checks, we asked you to carry out a self-review of your records. This factsheet gives you more information about what you need to do.

The NMW and the NLW are the minimum legal amount employers must pay their workers. You’re responsible for making sure you pay your workers at least the appropriate rate of NMW or NLW.

Where this factsheet refers to NMW, it also means NLW.

This factsheet is one of a series. For the full list, go to GOV.UK and search ‘National Minimum Wage information for employers’.

How to carry out the self-review

Our case officer will agree details of the review with you. They will tell you which periods and workers to include as part of your review.

Your review will depend on several factors. These include:

  • the size of your workforce
  • the type of work your workers carry out
  • the number of workers who may not have been paid at least the correct rate of NMW
  • changes to the NMW rates
  • changes in the contracted hours or pay rates of your workers

How to work out any amounts of NMW you may owe

You need to look at each pay reference period separately to check if you’ve paid the correct rate of NMW.

To work out any amounts you owe, you should use the current NMW rates. If the NMW rates have gone up, you’ll owe more than what you originally underpaid.

Please follow the steps below to work out what you owe.

  1. Work out the amount you originally underpaid in the pay reference period.
  2. Divide that amount by the NMW rate at the time you underpaid.
  3. Multiply that figure by the current NMW rate.

You can find more information about working out any amounts you might owe and any increases online. Go to GOV.UK and search ‘National Minimum Wage and Living Wage calculator for employers’ and ‘calculating the minimum wage’.

What happens next

After completing the self-review, you must send us your calculations. For each underpaid worker and each pay reference period, you need to give us:

  • their name, address, date of birth, payroll number and National Insurance number
  • details of the hours worked
  • details of gross pay received by each worker, including a breakdown of any additional pay
  • details of any amounts the worker paid to you or any deductions you took from their pay
  • the amount you underpaid for each worker
  • the amount of arrears you owe to each worker
  • any arrears you owed to each worker which you’ve now paid
  • any arrears you still need to pay to each worker

When we’ve looked at your self-review, we’ll let you know what you need to do next.

The NMW rate may go up between the time you work out the amount you owe to the date you repay it. If this happens, you’ll need to pay the worker an extra amount to match the new rates.

Information you must keep

You must keep (all of the following):

  • details of the method, size and scope of your review
  • details of how you worked out the amounts
  • all supporting information

This is because we might carry out a NMW check on your records in the future. If we do, you’ll need to give us this information.

If you need help

If you have any health or personal circumstances that may make it difficult for you to deal with us, please tell the officer who’s contacted you. They’ll help you in whatever way they can. For more details, go to GOV.UK and search ‘get help from HMRC if you need extra support’.

You can also ask someone else to deal with us on your behalf. For example, a professional adviser, friend or relative. However, we may need to talk or write to you directly about some things. If we need to write to you, we’ll send a copy of our letter to the person you’ve asked us to deal with. If we need to talk to you, they can be with you when we do, if you prefer.

Your adviser

If you want to appoint an adviser to act on your behalf, you need to send us a form 64-8 ‘Authorising your agent’. You can complete the form online. Go to GOV.UK and search ‘authorise a tax agent’.

You can also get a copy of the form by calling our order line on 0300 200 3610.

More information

You can find more information about NMW and NLW online. Go to GOV.UK and search ‘The National Minimum Wage and Living Wage’ and ‘HMRC email updates, videos and webinars for employing people’.

To check current and past NMW or NLW rates go to GOV.UK and search ‘National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage rates’.

The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) produce detailed guidance about the NMW. To find out more, go to GOV.UK and search ‘calculating the minimum wage’.

The Acas Helpline provides free, confidential advice in over 100 languages. You can call Acas on 0300 123 1100.

Your rights and obligations

The HMRC Charter explains what you can expect from us and what we expect from you. For more information, go to GOV.UK and search ‘HMRC Charter’.

Our privacy notice

Our privacy notice sets out the standards that you can expect from us when we ask for information or hold information about you. Go to GOV.UK and search ‘HMRC Privacy Notice’.

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