Can a pub charge bar staff for a uniform? The minimum wage rule on required kit, with a £28 deduction worked through

A new bar worker is told the house look is a black shirt and black trousers, plus the pub's branded apron at £8. Nobody asks whether it is legal to take the cost from her first pay. The answer sits in HMRC's manual for the national minimum wage and it turns on one word: required.

What HMRC says

HMRC's manual page on uniforms (NMWM11220, last updated 28 September 2026) separates required items from optional ones.

• Required items. Where the employer requires particular items, a payment or deduction for them "will always reduce National Minimum Wage pay". That covers buying the item from the employer, and also buying it from any shop: HMRC's own examples include required black trousers and a white tee shirt bought anywhere.
• Optional items. If a worker freely chooses extra items, a payment to the employer does not reduce minimum wage pay. A deduction from pay for an optional item still does.
• Wear and tear. Ordinary wear and tear charges for an employer-provided uniform reduce pay.
• Damage, loss or non-return. These charges do not reduce pay if they come from the worker's misconduct and are a contractual requirement. HMRC's example is a contractual deduction for an unreturned uniform.

The general-approach page (NMWM11020) adds that a deduction is treated as the employer's own where the money goes to a third party connected to the employer, and that a deposit taken in week 1 reduces pay in week 1. When the uniform comes back and the deposit is refunded in week 3, the refund counts in week 3, with no way to offset it back to week 1.

Neither page mentions till shortages or glass breakages, so this guide says nothing about them. HMRC's manual has other pages on misconduct deductions, so take advice before docking for either.

The sum

Using the £12.71 rate for workers aged 21 and over (the April 2026 figure, as cited in our guide on tips and the minimum wage):

If the worker is paid exactly the minimum, the whole of the £28 becomes a shortfall in that week. Paying her £28 more in the same week, or supplying the kit free, restores the position. Five new starters each buying the same kit make a £140 shortfall across the team, and the figure is the same however the kit is bought.

What to do

1. Supply the required items free. A polo, apron and name badge on the pub's account cost less than the risk of a breach.
2. Keep optional items genuinely optional. If the pub says "black trousers or dark jeans, your choice", write that down. A choice of brand within a required colour is a harder case, so ask for advice.
3. Check new starters' first payslips against the worked table, especially anyone paid at or close to the minimum.
4. Put misconduct charges in the contract and apply them only to a real loss or non-return.

The rota side of the same pay question is in the rota cost calculator, and the first-week paperwork is in the new starter checklist. Staff under 21 are paid a lower rate, covered in the guide to hiring under-21s.

Overlyft builds AI staff who join the pub's team and check each new starter's first pay run: they compare the hours, the rate for the worker's age and any kit charges, flag any week where the result falls under the minimum, and leave the decision to the manager. Pay questions then get caught before the payslip goes out.

This is general information, not employment advice. Check the HMRC manual and take advice on any particular deduction.