NMW to increase again next year to £12.21 ph.

In that case I'm going to "very surprise" you and tell you that a paramedic's starting salary of £28,407 works out as £13.63 an hour gross and £11.52 net. And it's even less if they are paying back a student loan. A police officer's starting salary is about the same. You don't think that those jobs, where responsibility for other people's (and your own) lives can literally be at risk every shift, cause people to lose sleep stressing about them at night?

Some nasty buggers on here tonight isn't there ?
Or maybe just frightened of having to pay a decent wage, £12 and hour ? I was on £9 as a student at a leisure centre in 1985, had to join the union though (remember them) think it cost about £1.50 a month.

Omg they are the worst and usually earning the most

Yes I generalised a bit (took a punt that OP wasn’t doing something this worthy).

Thanks for what you do, it’s really important.

I assume your single. I agree single people really do get screwed over. More then anyone

I was talking to a small business owner a couple of weeks ago. They are struggling to break even atm. Really sucessful business but they have been hit with loads of wage related increases.

They have 5 members of staff. In the last two years its added £2000 a month to their costs.

They are probably currently paying themselves LESS than minimum wage when they add up all the hours they put in.

Their comment before today was that it was like government was trying to kill small businesses. And now they have another wage increase to account for.

They can only raise their prices a certain amount before customers stop buying as much. So there's a risk to that and it remains to be seen how far they could do that any remain viable.

This could well mean the owners are forced to put even more hours in themselves and to cut a member of staff. Or they may even eventually go under, if they have a bad run of figures. Putting 5 people out of work.

The owners treat the staff really well and really look after them and care for them. They are not taking the piss or exploiting them.

There really needs to be some sort of small business relief to mitigate some of this, because the effect could well be devastating.

This is a far cry from your massive multinational who is able to offshore. Its THAT which needs much closer scrunity.

Maybe lots of people have already responded to you but I work for a domestic abuse charity. Not even our CEO is on over £20ph. Our practitioners absolutely stay up at night worrying about their clients.

Lots of people are (probably deliberately) misinterpreting OP. She's not saying that people on MW shouldn't get an increase, just if they are then everyone else should also get a commensurate pay increase, because after several years of this not happening, the difference between "unskilled" MW work (which is not to say it's easy or undemanding or that people don't recognise MW jobs are usually essential) and skilled jobs that have required a lot of training and incur a lot of responsibility and stress is getting very low, to the extent that at some point people probably will stop wanting to do those roles.

Someone working in a restaurant or behind a bar or as a cashier in tesco or a hairdressing assistant or a shelf stacker in home bargains etc - which don't get me wrong, having done them CAN be physically exhausting jobs with rude customers, but can also, depending on the shift and employer, be an absolute doss, will earn £25,396 a year with the pay increase (based on a 40 hour working week). As just one example a paramedic's salary starts at £28,407.

Do you really think those jobs are comparable to the extent the paramedic, someone who literally has people's lives in their hands every single shift, will, after tax and NI take home approximately £1.16 an hour more? Same for a police officer.

😂I am aware, however, the point I was making is that I do not have to worry about the potential for that error, as I do not have that added responsibility.
Btw, there are many "close calls" due to the lack of competency of mainly (not exclusively) agency sn

I'll keep pointing out that not everyone on min wage is entitled to any benefits

People seem to think this in real life as well that somehow I get topped up. My wage is my wage, there's nothing else

Why should the tax payer subsidise private businesses by paying their wages?

People on nmw can't afford to live so it's either companies pay more in wages or the government pay more in benefits. Labour are trying to reduce the benefit bill so they are passing the responsibility on to the employer instead of the tax payer.

Absolutely, they 100% deserve to be paid more but its just not possible.

On another note, some people have mentioned NHS B2s and 3s. There are many apprenticeships now within the NHS and they pay even a 16 yo apprentice as a B2, this is a fantastic wage for them and gives them opportunity to train whilst earning and then progress into higher paid roles. They still have a huge amount of responsibility in these roles but by making the lower bands apprentices I think this is so much better.

I obviously would like to see people earning better wages but i just can't see a suitable solution that benefits both employees and small businesses.

"One of them"? Pesky working class and their need to be paid enough to feed and house themselves aye? Maybe we should just bring back the workhouses and get all the great unwashed off the streets?

Don't worry, you'll be able to go straight out and get one of those brilliant, dead easy and fine for everyone else NMW jobs now won't you and be paid the new princely sum to boot? Wait, the work is harder and more insecure than you thought and oh it's not enough to live on is it? Oh dear, well at least you'll have learned something about empathy and seeing beyond the end of your nose.

Having a business means taking on quite a bit of risk for the hope of an increased reward. You aren't entitled to cheap labour to keep your failing business going, you aren't a charity and if you leave a gap in the market you will be replaced.

Thing is, and I mean this politely, it only seems to be the rise to NMW that is causing the issue to people.

I can’t recall the last time I read on here about an employee on (for example) 60k a year getting a rise and worrying what it will do to their employer. It only seems an issue when the lowest paid appear to be getting something.

Cost of living affects us all, only some of us, due to being poor, have no reserves to pay for it all.
Alongside the increase I would like to see the taper rate change on UC so that people who need it actually get a shot at earning and keeping a bit of money.

It seems a big jump to me after recent large jumps.

My husband will now be on 13p an hour more than the new staff he trains in his manual job with 20 years experience.

They'll probably be forced to put his wages up a tiny bit but the gap will decrease and it really isn't worth his key holder responsibility and staying later than everyone else to lock up. Or providing the training.

Bute everything we buy will now go up so overall we'll be worse off.

This just feels a steep rise and coupled with NI rise for employers will be the end of many small businesses.

I'm a veterinary surgeon and on £15 an hour... my job definitely keeps me up at night

I know im completely missing the point here but I spend a lot of time in hospitals and drug errors are a daily occurrence they very rarely result in death it would have to be one hell of a mistake to give someone enough of something to kill them.

The problem is across so many areas. You will now have companies both large and small having to pay more in staffing costs. It’s just a fact. Combine this increase with the NI increase and it’s quite significant.

Large companies will just raise their prices so expect the costs of everyday goods and services to cost you more. Smaller businesses may not be able to afford this and will reduce staffing levels if possible , or just close. Nurseries are an absolute case in point.

I worry for businesses and the effect it has on employees. Employers NIC's are being increased, the threshold at which it kicks in is going to be changed, and then if the NMW is increased it absolutely is going to affect employees in a bad way. Employers might not be able to hire new staff, it's going to be too expensive and this will also affect pay rises. It could also affect pay rises for current employees. It's not just £12 per hour, there are other costs. Employer NI costs (currently 13.8%), pension costs (legal minimum 3%) etc. Its not as simple as the headline of "£12 per hour"

I don't deny things need to change, the cost of living has taken a toll on everyone. It just feels a lot all at once. I am not a business owner, I am an employee in a small firm, and genuinely concerned for how things might change

I agree.

Yep - I agree, it's the small 'providing an essential service' businesses that cant afford the increase. Whether it be nurseries, childcare or pubs - they are vital for communities to thrive.

I agree. It's going to be an interesting few years ahead of us.