We run payroll for care homes, home care, supported living and nurseries, with travel time, sleep-ins and holiday pay recorded so every payslip meets the National Living Wage.
Travel between visits is working time. Time asleep on a sleep-in does not count, as long as suitable sleeping facilities are provided. Time woken to work on a sleep-in counts in full.
We record each kind of hour separately, so the minimum wage test can be run on every payslip.
| Age or category | From 1 April 2026 | From 1 April 2027 |
|---|---|---|
| 21 and over | £12.71 | £13.21 |
| 18 to 20 | £10.85 | £11.27 |
| Under 18 and apprentices | £8.00 | £8.31 |
| Accommodation offset, a day | £11.10 | £11.53 |
The government accepted the 2027 rates on 28 October 2026.
For irregular-hours and part-year workers, holiday accrues at 12.07% of the hours worked in each pay period. Since the Working Time Regulations were amended by SI 2023/1426, it can be paid as a 12.07% uplift on each payslip for leave years starting on or after 1 April 2024.
Skills for Care's 2026 report put the median pay of care and support workers in England at £12.60 an hour in March 2026. The National Living Wage rose to £12.71 the following month, so pay scales set around that median had to move in April 2026.
Pay above £5,000 a year carries 15% employer National Insurance, offset by an Employment Allowance of up to £10,500 for an eligible employer. Employer pension contributions under auto-enrolment come on top.
£11.10 a day from 1 April 2026, rising to £11.53 from 1 April 2027. It is the most that accommodation provided by the employer can count towards minimum wage pay.
Yes. We run the pension contributions through payroll and make the submissions to your pension provider each pay period.
Yes. We compare the hours that count, including travel between visits and time awake on sleep-ins, against the pay for each pay period and show you where any shortfall sits.
Buzz Legal is the business legal service of Buzz Legal Ltd (company 17078192). Court work is handled by AD Solicitors, authorised and regulated by the SRA (no. 8011228).
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