National Minimum Wage Increase

[good96]

With the NMW increase from April 2025 rising to £12.21 - for someone who works 40 hours a week - that is £25,400!

Can see so many businesses struggling/restructuring/redundancies after this!

I am thinking the same as you op. I popped into my local mini supermarket today and they have installed 7 self service tills. They have only left 2 human tills. I think more business will lean into machines/AI etc as it will be cheaper.

I run a small business with 12 employees and two of them are minimum wage. They are both part time. To be honest, what it means for us is that if they ask for more hours we will say no, as they are the employees that already bring the least to the business ( as the others are more experienced or qualified).

We also have held off increasing the prices of our products for a couple of years but have decided that because of the MW increase and any increase in NI, we will bring in a 6% pay rise across most of our products.

For a person with any responsibilities or additional expenses (remember the NMW only applies from 21), you’re hardly rolling in it on that wage.

I mean, if you’re living at home with your folks and paying minimal board, it’s better. If you’re living independently then it’s pretty much what I was earning for 40 hours per week as a 24 year old, 20 whole years ago. And that is in cash terms.

Care home fees will rocket up for private payers who are already subsidising council placed residents. Staff numbers will be cut as well.

We have also recently taken on two new staff and we’re trying to staff up now before the changes to employment rights comes in as we don’t want to be in a position to have to take on new staff at that stage. We are a fairly niche industry and so often take a “risk”’on staff coming in and we need to be able to lay people off if they’re not right.

There will be a knock on effect as well. Employees slightly higher up the chain will also want an increase and those above them will too. People will look to ensure the pay structure is maintained across the board. It will lead to higher prices too.

I think it's an excellent move, and now all they need to do is stop these shitty zero hours contracts. Should be minimum 16 hours guaranteed. This has been a long time coming, (people being paid properly for doing a job.)

All most employers are bothered about is not being able to pay the higher managers (and themselves) big fat bonuses, and not being able to update their 2022 Jag or Mercedes to a 2024 one, and not being able to have 3 holidays abroad next year only 2.

It's about time the workers who actually keep the place together were rewarded with decent pay. The employers can suck it up. Hourly pay has been shit for 2 decades now. This is just playing catch up.

Yeah sure, there will be a few small companies who will struggle to adapt, and aren't like the bigger companies with all the greedy people at the top, but this is a risk you take when you're a business owner. Having to dig deep in your pockets to pay your staff properly.

I know a number of people will come on and dispute this, and act all defensive and all that. Crack on. Just means I have hit a raw nerve.
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Yeah, that’s just not how business works.

How to say 'I don't have a clue how business works' without saying 'I don't have a clue how business works'

Zero hours contracts and those below 16 are good for example students - or those who have another ‘main job’ and need a side hustle.

This is definitely true. Our non MW employees are already saying “oh good that means a pay rise for all of us”, not realising that they are already being paid the right wage for their role. But as these are our more valuable staff, we probably will end up giving them a pay rise - and funding that through cutting the MW employees hours and increasing our prices.

Why should anyone working 40 hours not earn £25400?
why do you think their time and labour is not worth that much?
How much do you expect for your labour?

If anything, this should be a call for MW employees to get trained up and skilled so they’re more in demand. At the moment the roles we have that are MW are easily done by unskilled people so those employees are replaceable. We may even try to absorb their responsibilities into our existing staff’s roles.
Our non MW employees are much more able to request higher wages and are the ones we would be much more sorry to see leave.

Well everyone should be OFFERED 16 hours a week. An actual contract. Many would take it - even 'students.' But many money-grabbing selfish employers don't want to do this. Cuts into their profit. Stops them updating the fancy Mercedes for a new one if they actually have to pay their staff. PROPERLY.

I reiterate. This new higher minimum wage is a GOOD thing, and employers will have to suck it up.

I mean God FORBID you pay your employees a decent wage!

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Fundamentally, you, as a unit of production, have a value to a business. If the business decides that you’re not “worth” over £12 an hour, you will be laid off. It doesn’t matter what you think you’re worth if the business doesn’t agree.

This

Its always the same isn't it exploitative employers decrying the min wage increase every single time, if paying your employees properly means your business is in trouble it means you've been exploiting your employees in a non viable business

Wages seem to have become very depressed lately. Where I work the starting salary for a manager is only 2k more than what some employees below are paid. Who’d want to manage a big team with all the associated stress for an extra £120 or so a month? So there will be that push upwards as a consequence I imagine.

Good. About bloody time.
Small business owners should not be succeeding on the backs of employees who are struggling to get by,

Won't this have a significant impact on the NHS and local authorities?

Hospital porters, HCAs, refuse workers, etc.

I'm not saying these people don't work hard for their money but if we are saying more money needs to be put into the NHS, most of that will be immediately swallowed by this and the NI rise. So we can say 'the NHS has x billion extra' but in reality it doesn't and so won't improve.

A year ago my manual worker husband who does complicated metal work it takes years to learn was in £2 more an hour than new starts. This will put it down to 13p.

He produces twice what the new starts do (and even those with a couple of years experience) and has supervisor responsibilities. Is it worth it for that?

And yes you can say he can get another job but we live in Scotland and there's not a comparable business within 60 miles.

However, he might be better not doing the heavy lifting he currently does and applying to our local coop.

But don't complain when you can't get the essential bits of kit that keep our food industry moving.

I think it’s a good thing I don’t earn massively over min wage tbh I think it’s better that business pay wages people can live on . For too long you have businesses that are being propped up by artificially cheap labour and people claiming UC top ups for rent / childcare etc.

Well we are paying our employees “properly” as we are paying the currently prescribed minimum wage for two unskilled employees and well above MW for skilled employees.

Just because the govt decides to raise the amount, doesn’t mean we’re suddenly exploitative employers. To protect the wages and jobs of our skilled and more valuable employees, we will (as mentioned above) minimise the hours of our least valuable employees and raise prices.

I know most employees have no idea about how to run a business (one of our employees once said she “ran the place” when all she was doing was answering the phone and placing orders) but surely anyone can see that if the govt raises wages and tax, then businesses will respond?

Your husband should use his position as a skilled worker to negotiate for a higher pay rise. He can use the examples you give and suggest a level that he thinks is fair. If they think they will struggle to replace him, then they will increase his pay.

Yes because every single small business owner is loaded and doing just fine 🙄

See it's easy to say that but it's a small business already struggling. Not so much on not having enough work but in consistency of that work and turnover.

The owner is decent to him. As a PP said, if he puts up my husband's wages he'll be cutting the hours of the new starts or getting rid of one.

If you live in a city maybe you can up and leave but there aren't many other places his skills are applicable within a hundred mile radius.

In all fairness the unions are pushing for a £15 wage for refuse workers / all LA staff I’m pretty sure that’s going to be across the various public institutions. I do think companies should of maintained pay gaps to be attractive to staff.