I work on 'piece rate'. Am I entitled to the National Minimum Wage?

Yes. If you are paid according to the amount of your output (known as ‘piece work’), as opposed to the hours you work, you are still entitled to the National Minimum Wage (NMW). Your employer must pay a ‘fair rate’ for each task or piece of work that you do. Government guidance on how this is calculated is available  

The fair piece rate is the amount that must be paid to make sure that someone working at an average speed is paid at least the NMW per hour. 

To set the rate, the employer must carry out a fair test to find out how much an average worker produces in an hour. This requires the employer to do the following: 

• test some or all the workers – they must choose typical workers not just the fastest one; 
• work out how many pieces of work have been completed in an hour;
• divide this by the number of workers;
• divide the average rate of work by 1.2;
• divide the hourly rate by that number to work out the fair rate for each piece of work completed.    

Dividing the rate of work by 1.2 produces a rate that is 120% of the average to allow for the fact that some workers will complete the work more slowly than the average.  

If the work changes significantly, the employer must do another test to work out the new average rate. 

Trade unions are experts at making sure workers are paid the NMW whatever work they do and wherever they work. If you are not a union member, browse our Union Finder tool to find out which union best suits your needs, and to discover more about organising to secure union recognition at your workplace.  

You can also get advice on your right to be paid the NMW by calling the Acas Helpline on 0300 123 1100. With your consent, the Acas Helpline officer can refer your claim on to the National Minimum Wage enforcement team at HMRC.