Live-in staff: are you paying minimum wage?
Accommodation is the only perk that counts towards the minimum wage, and only up to £11.10 a day. Check the pay that counts after rent and deductions.
Your answer
Enter the hours, the gross pay and the days you provide accommodation to check the minimum wage.
About this calculator
For hotels, pubs, care homes, farms and anyone else who gives staff somewhere to live, whether you take rent from their pay or give it free.
Getting it wrong is easy: rent, utilities and deductions for uniform or tools can take pay below the minimum wage even when the hourly rate on the contract looks fine.
What happens to your answers
We don’t keep them. Your answers go to our server to do the sums and aren’t stored or logged. If you copy a link to your answers, they’re in the link itself, so only share it with people you trust.
How it’s worked out
We start with the gross pay for the period. If the accommodation is free, we add £11.10 for each day you provide it (the accommodation offset). If you charge, only the part of the charge above £11.10 a day comes off. Then we take off deductions for your benefit, such as uniform or tools.
That's the pay that counts. We divide it by the hours worked and compare it with the minimum wage for their age, or the apprentice rate. If it's short, the shortfall is what you owe for the period.
Worked example
No: you're £20.70 short of the minimum wage for this week, £12.19 an hour against £12.71.
Minimum wage from 1 April 2026 · one week · 40 hours · accommodation charged for 7 days
| Gross pay for the week | £540.00 |
|---|---|
| You charge £120.00 for accommodation. The offset allows 7 days at £11.10 = £77.70 | £77.70 |
| Less the part of the charge above the offset | − £42.30 |
| Less deductions for your benefit (uniform, tools and so on) | − £10.00 |
| Pay that counts for the minimum wage | £487.70 |
| An hour, over 40 hours | £12.19 |
| Minimum for 40 hours at £12.71 an hour (National Living Wage, 21 and over) | £508.40 |
| Shortfall to pay for this week | £20.70 |
| Penalty if HMRC finds it: up to 200% of the arrears, at most £20,000 a worker | up to £41.40 |
| Most you could charge for the accommodation this week and still pay the minimum wage | £99.30 |
Worked out using GOV.UK's minimum wage and accommodation offset rates from 1 April 2026, for one pay period.
Questions people ask
Can I count meals or other perks towards the minimum wage?
No. Accommodation is the only perk that counts, and only up to the offset: £11.10 a day (£77.70 a week) from 1 April 2026. Meals, transport and anything else don't count, however much they're worth.
What if I charge less than the offset?
A charge at or below £11.10 a day doesn't reduce the pay that counts. Only the part above it does. Free accommodation is different: then the offset is added to the pay that counts.
What happens if HMRC finds an underpayment?
You must pay the arrears at today's minimum wage rate, even for past periods when the rate was lower. HMRC can also charge a penalty of up to 200% of the arrears, at most £20,000 a worker (halved if you pay within 14 days), and may name the business.
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