Nando's opens 14 new UK restaurants: what the April 2026 wage rise means for hospitality workers

Nando's has confirmed plans to open 14 new restaurants across the UK in 2026, backed by an 8% surge in annual revenues to £1.48 billion and operating profits that nearly tripled to £146.6 million. New sites in Sheffield, Edinburgh, Bedford, Liverpool and Paddington are already in recruitment. But the chain has simultaneously flagged a key concern: the April 2026 increase in employer National Insurance contributions and the rise in the National Living Wage to £12.71 per hour are expected to put significant pressure on its cost base this year.

For the hundreds of new employees Nando's will hire — and for the tens of thousands already working across the UK's hospitality sector — this moment raises a question worth asking: do you actually know your employment rights?

What changed on 1 April 2026

Two major changes took effect for UK workers at the start of April 2026:

The National Living Wage rose to £12.71 per hour for workers aged 21 and over, up from £11.44 in 2024. For a full-time hospitality worker doing 37.5 hours per week, this represents an annual pay floor of approximately £24,780. Workers aged 18-20 are now entitled to a minimum of £10.00 per hour.

Employer National Insurance contributions increased from 13.8% to 15% on earnings above a lower threshold (reduced from £9,100 to £5,000 per year). This shift means that for every full-time employee earning £25,000, employers now pay around £600 more per year in NICs. Businesses like Nando's, which employ thousands of staff across many sites, face a material cost increase — which some analysts expect to flow through to reduced hours or slower hiring in parts of the sector.

According to GOV.UK's employment rights guidance, every worker in the UK is entitled to receive at least the National Living Wage or National Minimum Wage for their age group, regardless of contract type — whether permanent, part-time, or zero-hours.

Zero-hours contracts: still legal, but with conditions

Nando's, like most large hospitality employers, uses a mix of contract types. Zero-hours contracts — where you are not guaranteed any minimum hours — are common in the sector. They are legal in the UK, but they come with important protections:

• You are still entitled to the National Living Wage for every hour worked
• You are still entitled to paid holiday — calculated as 12.07% of hours worked
• You cannot be penalised for not making yourself available for shifts
• Since October 2024, the Employment Rights Act has created new protections giving workers the right to request a predictable working pattern if they've been employed for 26 weeks or more

This last point is particularly relevant for new Nando's hires in 2026. If after six months you find your hours unpredictable and you want a more stable contract, you have a formal right to make that request — and your employer must consider it seriously.

Tips, service charges and your legal entitlements

One area of hospitality employment law that generates consistent confusion is tipping. Since October 2024, the Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act 2023 requires all employers to pass 100% of tips and service charges to workers — with no deduction for administrative costs. An independent tronc system (a method for distributing tips) is permitted, but must be operated fairly and transparently.

Nando's operates a tronc scheme. Workers who believe tips are being distributed unfairly can raise a formal complaint with an employment tribunal. This is a relatively new right — many workers are unaware it exists.

What to do if you think your employer is not complying

If you believe you are being paid below the minimum wage, not receiving your holiday pay entitlement, or that tip distribution is unfair, you have several routes:

1. Speak to ACAS (Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service) — a free, impartial service that can advise on workplace disputes
2. Report non-compliance with minimum wage to HMRC via the government's dedicated hotline (0800 917 2368)
3. File an employment tribunal claim — for most wage disputes, you must do this within three months of the incident. A legal adviser can help you assess whether you have a viable case before you commit to the process

Employment tribunals saw a record 800,000+ claims in 2024-25, with wage theft and unlawful deduction from wages among the most common categories. Legal aid for employment matters is limited, but many solicitors offer a free initial consultation.

Nando's expansion as a bellwether for hospitality employment

The broader context matters here. Nando's is expanding because it can — its premium-casual positioning and strong brand loyalty have insulated it from the worst of cost inflation. Many smaller hospitality operators are in a very different position: faced with the same April 2026 cost increases, some will reduce hours, others will close.

For workers in the sector, this creates real uncertainty. The best protection is knowledge: understanding what you are entitled to, knowing how to claim it, and recognising when your employer may not be complying.

Hospitality is one of the UK's largest employment sectors, yet it has some of the highest rates of wage non-compliance of any industry. The April 2026 wage rise is a legal floor, not a ceiling — but for many workers, knowing how to enforce that floor is the gap between being paid fairly and being shortchanged.

The April changes in practice: three questions to ask yourself

• Are you receiving at least £12.71 per hour? If not — and you are 21 or over — your employer is breaking the law
• Have you received your holiday pay for all hours worked, including on zero-hours arrangements? This is owed to you regardless of contract type
• Have tips been distributed to you promptly and in full? Since October 2024, retention of tips by employers is illegal