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Original poster

About half of British workers earn under £15 hour - new Living Wage?

242 replies

Melisha · 09/07/2024 00:20

At the moment about half of the workforce earns under £15 an hour. We need to increase national minimum wage to £15 an hour, lifting many of the workforce out of poverty.
Do you agree NMW should be £15 an hour?

OP posts:
Original poster
Melisha · 09/07/2024 22:44

@Mrsttcno1 I know, but it is common.

OP posts:
Original poster
Melisha · 09/07/2024 22:42

Blushingm · 09/07/2024 18:06

But then should everyone then get a pay rise if those on lower grades salaries are lifted and are closer to the next grade surely there should be an overall rise or there's no incentive to progress plus people with more responsibility etc should be paid more

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Some employers already have difficulties filling jobs as those above minimum wage are not paid much more.

OP posts:
justasking111 · 09/07/2024 21:53

Floogal · 09/07/2024 18:12

That's called being 'hubsidised'.

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That's really offensive actually

Floogal · 09/07/2024 18:12

VeterinaryCareAssistant · 09/07/2024 18:01

The funniest part is there are probably a lot of women who would be struggling as lower earners if they didn't have their rich husbands but because they see his earnings as "joint earnings" they think they've earned it too.

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That's called being 'hubsidised'.

Blushingm · 09/07/2024 18:06

Melisha · 09/07/2024 00:32

There are lots of jobs paid under £15 an hour that are very stressful.
And nurses on the lower bands are already paid less than £15 an hour. This would increase the starting pay of qualified nurses.

But then should everyone then get a pay rise if those on lower grades salaries are lifted and are closer to the next grade surely there should be an overall rise or there's no incentive to progress plus people with more responsibility etc should be paid more

VeterinaryCareAssistant · 09/07/2024 18:01

FloatyBoaty · 09/07/2024 07:32

Mumsnet is amazing.

Working people are struggling- shouldn’t NMW be raised?
mumsnetters: absolutely not. Inflationary spiral! Costs passed on! No incentive to be a nurse! (?!)

Working people are struggling- should uc/ in-work benefits be extended?
mumsnetters: Absolutely not. No incentive to work! People reliant on benefits! Country can’t afford scroungers etc etc etc

Alright then lads. What IS the answer? Shall the working class just fucking rot then?

The funniest part is there are probably a lot of women who would be struggling as lower earners if they didn't have their rich husbands but because they see his earnings as "joint earnings" they think they've earned it too.

Metempsychosis · 09/07/2024 17:57

Maverickess · 09/07/2024 17:06

Well considering an article from the BBC in April had the Tesco boss talking about the £2.3bn, up from £882m, pre tax profit, I think they can afford the £30m to increase the wages of the nmw staff, and still not cut into an increased profit significantly. Even doubling that figure to take account of scaling up other wage increases still leaves an increased profit of £812m.

Instead the tax payer is supporting many of their nmw workers instead and Tesco get to pocket another £30m in profit.

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30 million extra per week, not per year, obviously. About a billion and a half per year (although that assumes that all the NMW workers are full time, which I suspect isn't the case).

hattie43 · 09/07/2024 17:55

I fear it maybe a poisoned chalice because yes it's nice to pay £15 per hour but I bet they'll be a huge number of redundancies

Mrsttcno1 · 09/07/2024 17:46

Melisha · 09/07/2024 17:35

How do zero hour contracts or less hours mean that people who are not productive suddenly become productive? They do not.
Zero hour contracts are simply a way to make people work unpaid as they are so desperate for the hours. It has been common in some businesses for low paid staff to do some work for free.

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It is ILLEGAL for anybody to be working for free, anybody in any business who is working for less than NMW should be reporting their employers to HMRC. HMRC investigate and the workers get what they are owed.

kitsuneghost · 09/07/2024 17:46

GG1986 · 09/07/2024 17:16

Also I would be changing my career and leaving the medical profession if I could earn the same working at a till in B&M as I do in nursing!

What makes you think B&M would have you. People talk about check out jobs in such a derogatory manner but it is a frustrating and thankless job.

When NMW went up last time we had people threaten to leave to work in Tesco. They wouldn't have known what had hit them TBH. Even if they got in with no experience

Original poster
Melisha · 09/07/2024 17:43

And look at the thread with multiple people saying they are paid a lot but do very little work. But magically their high wages and skiving does not increase prices.

OP posts:
Booboobedooo · 09/07/2024 17:43

GG1986 · 09/07/2024 17:33

Yeah that would be nice! However no doubt we would all have to strike in order for them to do anything and even then the increase is shocking.

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Yeah it’s a joke. But presumably if people left the professional it’d kind of force their hand.

(Can’t remember what the rules are in terms of salary for recruiting overseas workers for jobs on the shortage list.)

Original poster
Melisha · 09/07/2024 17:35

Missamyp · 09/07/2024 17:25

This is quite observant. Not for the reasons you think though.
The problem with setting an arbitrary artificial wage floor is some are being paid too much and some too little. This of course includes all skill sets and pay bands. However, minimum wage rewards the useless with the useful. Some on minimum wage are being paid too much for the value and level of service they provide.
So what happens is businesses just cut hrs or introduce zero hrs contracts.

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How do zero hour contracts or less hours mean that people who are not productive suddenly become productive? They do not.
Zero hour contracts are simply a way to make people work unpaid as they are so desperate for the hours. It has been common in some businesses for low paid staff to do some work for free.

OP posts:
caringcarer · 09/07/2024 17:34

BemoreJane · 09/07/2024 14:47

I’m paid minimum wage for a local retail company with 8 sites. When NMW went up in April they cut everybody’s hours across the company by 3 hrs a week to pay for the increase, so we actually ended up slightly worse off.

THe company is struggling to recruit several supervisors at the moment as they are only prepared to pay 20pence more an hour for these roles for a much higher level of responsibility.

You were better off if you got the same pay for 3 hours less work.

GG1986 · 09/07/2024 17:33

Booboobedooo · 09/07/2024 17:19

Well yeah – so maybe there would be pressure to increase wages to attract workers.

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Yeah that would be nice! However no doubt we would all have to strike in order for them to do anything and even then the increase is shocking.

caringcarer · 09/07/2024 17:32

MrsRobinsonsHandprints · 09/07/2024 14:26

But where do you stop. So those that were on £15 don't get a £1 pay rise?

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I've clearly said those on a little above MW should also.br raised £1 per hour too.

Missamyp · 09/07/2024 17:25

MidnightMeltdown · 09/07/2024 01:16

I don't think the problem is simply that some people are paid too little, some people are also paid too much. The problem in the UK is high inequality.

This is not to say that some people shouldn't earn more, but it should be within reason (e.g. the highest earner in the company is not earning more than 5 times the salary of the lowest earner). We need a maximum wage as much as a minimum wage.

Companies also shouldn't be allowed to pay out to shareholders while their staff are dependent on tax payer funded benefits because their wages are too low to live on.

This is quite observant. Not for the reasons you think though.
The problem with setting an arbitrary artificial wage floor is some are being paid too much and some too little. This of course includes all skill sets and pay bands. However, minimum wage rewards the useless with the useful. Some on minimum wage are being paid too much for the value and level of service they provide.
So what happens is businesses just cut hrs or introduce zero hrs contracts.

Booboobedooo · 09/07/2024 17:19

GG1986 · 09/07/2024 17:14

I earn just under £15 per hour as a nurse, so the NHS would need to dramatically increase pay if the NMW was increased to £15 per hour. Why should a trained professional earn the same as a till worker at b&m with no qualifications?

Well yeah – so maybe there would be pressure to increase wages to attract workers.

GG1986 · 09/07/2024 17:16

Also I would be changing my career and leaving the medical profession if I could earn the same working at a till in B&M as I do in nursing!

GG1986 · 09/07/2024 17:14

I earn just under £15 per hour as a nurse, so the NHS would need to dramatically increase pay if the NMW was increased to £15 per hour. Why should a trained professional earn the same as a till worker at b&m with no qualifications?

Maverickess · 09/07/2024 17:06

Mrsttcno1 · 09/07/2024 13:49

That’s simple and here’s an example:

Tesco’s

1 CEO
320,000 employees (roughly)

Lets say 250,000 of those are on NMW. You raise NMW to £15, so a £3 per hour increase.

250,000 people earning £3 more per hour, for 8 hour shifts, 5 days a week = £30,000,000

That’s £30 million more for 1 year. The CEO would need a hell of a pay rise to match that.

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Well considering an article from the BBC in April had the Tesco boss talking about the £2.3bn, up from £882m, pre tax profit, I think they can afford the £30m to increase the wages of the nmw staff, and still not cut into an increased profit significantly. Even doubling that figure to take account of scaling up other wage increases still leaves an increased profit of £812m.

Instead the tax payer is supporting many of their nmw workers instead and Tesco get to pocket another £30m in profit.

Tryingtokeepgoing · 09/07/2024 17:04

Of that half, how many earn £15 or more per hour once you take into account in-work benefits I wonder?

OP posts:
Booboobedooo · 09/07/2024 16:58

Melisha · 09/07/2024 16:39

Interesting to see £30k described as a high wage when MN is normally full of people saying £120k is not that high a wage.

Rrrriiiigggghhhht?!

Booboobedooo · 09/07/2024 16:56

VeterinaryCareAssistant · 09/07/2024 16:47

I'm on £11.44 per hour so yes £15 would be good. My fellow VCAs, receptionists and admin assistants were supposed to get 3% on top but the veterinary nurses complained that it took us too close to what they got paid (£13 I think).

I mean… I get why it’s irksome but it’s mad really that they’ve done this as it literally makes no material difference to them (and presumably would have provided leverage for an increase themselves). As long as someone else gets substantially less they’re happy?!

I feel like this kind of attitude is post-2010 Britain all over…!