A national minimum wage rota check on every shift

Bands are picked from real staff data, not guesswork

The UK has four National Minimum Wage bands: 21 and over (the National Living Wage), 18 to 20, 16 to 17 (school-leaving age), and Apprentice. Which band applies to a person is a function of their age on the date they work the shift, whether they are an apprentice, and if so whether they are still in the first year of their apprenticeship.

Crewo takes that information from each staff profile and picks the band automatically for every shift, using the date the shift is worked. If someone turns 21 next Tuesday, next Tuesday's shift is checked against the 21+ rate, not the 18 to 20 rate.

Rates live in one place, with effective-from dates

The government updates the rates most years, usually in April. Crewo stores rates by band with an effective-from date, so when the new rates are announced you enter them once with the start date and Crewo uses the correct rate for any shift on or after that date. Historical shifts stay checked against the rate that applied at the time.

Warnings on the rota, not in a monthly report

When a staff member's effective hourly rate falls below their band, the shift is flagged on the grid and in the wage bill breakdown. That happens as you build the rota, so you can raise the rate, move the shift or ask a question, before the week is published and worked. A late catch is expensive; a caught-at-planning is not.

What it does not replace

Crewo is careful about what it claims. It applies the rates and bands you configure to the shifts you plan. It does not provide legal advice, and it does not remove your responsibility as an employer to pay the correct wage. For authoritative guidance, HMRC and Acas are the right places to look. Crewo's job is to make the honest mistakes much harder to make in the first place.

The rest of the picture

NMW checks are part of Crewo's wider wage engine. The wage bill software page explains how gross pay, employer NI, pension and holiday accrual roll up into a true cost. The rota software page covers the one-screen weekly grid the checks appear on, and the shift planner page shows how this scales across teams and sites.

FAQ

Which National Minimum Wage bands does Crewo cover?

Crewo covers the four UK bands: 21 and over (the National Living Wage), 18 to 20, 16 to 17 (school-leaving age), and Apprentice. Bands are chosen automatically from each staff member's date of birth, apprentice status and apprentice start date.

How does Crewo know which band a staff member is on?

From their profile. Add a date of birth, tick the Apprentice box where relevant and add the apprentice start date, and Crewo picks the correct band on any given date. When someone crosses a band, for example turning 21, the band updates from that date onward without any manual work.

What happens when a shift is priced below the band?

Crewo flags the shift on the rota and in the wage bill so you can raise the rate or reassign the shift before you publish. The check runs as you edit, not once a week in a report.

Where do the rates come from?

Rates live in an NMW rates table with an effective-from date, so when the government publishes new rates you set the new figures and their start date once, and Crewo applies them from that date onward for every band.

Is this legal advice?

No. Crewo is software that helps you plan compliant rotas by applying the rates and bands you configure. It is not a substitute for legal, HR or payroll advice, and the responsibility for paying the correct wage remains with the employer. For guidance, HMRC and Acas publish authoritative resources.