Case study: Minimum wage

Sean works 43 hours per week including three hours on a Saturday. He is entitled to the minimum wage of €8.65 as he is an experienced adult employee and isn't on a training or study course. He is paid a gross wage of €375 per week. Sean's pay includes a €20 premium for working Saturdays. He asked his employer about the national minimum wage and his employer gave him the following information:

• The pay reference period is weekly
• Dividing the gross pay (€375) by the hours worked (43), this gives an average hourly pay of €8.72

This is slightly above the current national minimum wage of €8.65 per hour. Is Sean's employer correct?

Answer
No, Sean's employer is incorrect. The €20 premium for working on Saturdays should not be included for national minimum wage purposes. This means that only €355 should be divided by 43, giving an average hourly pay of €8.25 - below the national minimum wage of €8.65.

Sean's entitlement is a basic wage of €372 (€8.65 x 43) plus €20 Saturday premium which comes to a total of €392.