The Agricultural Wages Board (AWB) for Northern Ireland has recently proposed changes to how much agricultural workers will be paid from April 1, 2026.
Agricultural workers in NI are entitled to agricultural minimum wage rates, rather than the national minimum wage (NMW) or national living wage (NLW).
If the NMW or the NLW become higher than the hourly rates set out specifically for agricultural workers, then the hourly or other minimum rate will default to the NMW or NLW, whichever applies, according to THE Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA).
The proposed changes were agreed upon at a AWB meeting earlier this month with the board deciding to simplify the grading structure by proposing to reduce it from six grades to five, merging the previous Grades 3 and 4 into a single category.
Pay grades
AWB members have proposed the following rates of pay for agricultural workers:
- Grade 1 – agricultural trainee – under 18 years old: £8.00/hr; 18-20 year olds: £10.85/hr; 21 years or older: £12.71/hr;
- Grade 2 – agricultural worker – £13.30/hr;
- Grade 3 – lead skilled agricultural worker – £13.66/hr;
- Grade 4 – agricultural multi-skilled worker – £13.89/hr;
- Grade 5 – agricultural manager – £14.44/hr.
The board has also proposed changes to how overtime will be paid, with agricultural workers set to be paid at the same hourly rate as normal working hours under the new proposals.
DAERA noted that other overtime rates will be subject to contractual agreement between the employer and employee.
Additionally, an increase to £60 per week for accommodation offset has been also proposed.
AWB
The board is expected to meet again on February 27, 2026 to consider any objections to the proposals.
At the second meeting, AWB will make an order to give effect to the new rates and other amendments which would come into operation on April 1, 2026.
DAERA stated that updated definitions for the new five-grade structure will be published in due course.
