National minium wage

[B0yMama2]

When I started my job 4 years ago I was on about a £1 more than the national living wage. For context I work in hospitality and have alot of experience within the industry and if it wasn't for working part time I would have been promoted to supervisor but the company only allow full time supervisor roles which I do not want. I have previously been offered supervisor if I was willing to go full time but I have 2 young children nursery age so was a no from me

This morning I get a email stating my new wage with the living wage increase is just 11p more than the national minimum wage

At about 2 years into the company I got a 50p pay rise as they recognised my hard work but then I went on maternity leave and come back with everyone's wages increased with the minimum wage and I was back to on the same as the standard rate they paid for the job

Just a bit annoying and I don't know how to word how I don't feel appreciated for my long service within the company along with dedication and hard work with the email of my new wage this morning. I've never argued a pay before.

YANBU but some Mr Gradgrind will be along soon to say us plebs don't deserve to even be paid for work and should pay the boss for permission to come to work.
Dunno what the answer is except look for a better paid job.
Mat leave sounds like discrimination but proving it is another thing.

Is this the best job for you? Hospitals are desperate for catering staff etc. This is why companies struggle to get staff and keep them. Look at what's about because you may be able to use it as a bargaining point.

Minimum wage has gone up enormously over the last few years, which is good, but I can see why companies are finding it difficult to pay above it, even if they used to.

Ultimately pay is supply and demand. Wages will become less competitive when more people are chasing the jobs. After a period when it was difficult to recruit, it's now becoming easier, which is one of the reasons inflation is starting to come down.

This is the issue with increasing NMW without thinking about the salary for all other jobs. I know professional jobs (not entry level) that now only pay £3k more a year than NMW jobs, yet want a degree and experience!

I think if we're going down the road to focus on NMW as a benchmark, then we need to set other benchmarks, e.g. if you're in a supervisor role, your wage needs to be at least X amount above NMW, if your role requires a degree it should be at least X amount above etc.

In my previous organisation, the starting salary for a Project Officer (requiring a degree, experience etc) had not increased for nearly a decade, while NMW had increased multiple times in that period.

When I first started in my job I earned around 25% above minimum wage and now with almost 20 years experience and my skills constantly expending employers are barely paying anything above minimum wage for the same role. I'm not in a position to train as anything else and the moment unfortunately.

Join a union. Wages in this country are a disgrace.

Yanbu and every step of the food chain is reeling from it. No one else is getting this level of pay increase and it's almost not worth taking on senior positions because the pay isn't worth it any more.

Sorry to say that from 1st April all hospital staff on a band 2, including clinical and non clinically based roles, will be getting 1p over minimum wage an hour.

Minimum wage has increased a lot in recent years, which is right because it was always too low, however I think companies are now struggling to pay above it.

Other costs are also rising and the hospitality industry has been hit hard so a lot of employers are just not able to afford to increase salaries.

And customers won't/can't pay the increase in costs to use the hospitality industry anymore which will exacerbate the problem further.

Your differential should have been maintained otherwise the pay rise has been eliminated. I'd be fuming.

Very few companies are doing this. I'm surprised more people aren't outraged.

The headlines are all about pay for the the least well paid, so minimum wage. As the most senior person in my department, I've had the lowest % payrise for three years running (I know, your heart bleeds). Unions seem happy to accept this, but it means the bands are getting squased with less differential all the way through

When you say 'unions are happy to accept this', I presume you mean the union's members, who are balloted on pay offers?

I guess so. The higher numbers will be towards the bottom of the payscales?

And then organisations end up with shit leadership.

I think my workplace needs a union rep, but unless my colleagues join, it won’t happen. They understand why they should, but just won’t do it.

I'm in retail and my assistant manager gets paid a salary the equivalent of £11.06 an hour. He's had no word yet if he's actually getting a payrise. Of course legally, he has to, but the company aren't being forthcoming.

I understand your frustration but your issue isn't with the nmw but with your employer who doesn't pay you enough.

Fwiw, nmw is still nowhere enough. most people who I know are on it doesn't on UC credit top ups.

I never said it was?

I agree, and I think erosion of pay differentials is happening in all sorts of sectors.

When I started with my current employer (not for profit sector) 17 years ago, I was getting 2.5 x NMW. Since then, I have had 2 promotions and am now at a level 3 grades higher than when I started, but am only getting 1.5 x NMW.

Similar roles in other sectors are paying 25%-35% more. We've lost 2 valued and experienced colleagues in the last year, who would never have left if they hadn't needed the money. It has been impossible to replace them with experienced people, so the role has effectively become a trainee post.

If I was younger, I wouldn't be hanging around either, but I'm semi-retired, part-time and can pretty much please myself re hours etc, and in all respects other than pay, the organisation is fantastic to work for. We're awaiting the outcome of a benchmarking exercise, so regrading is a possibility.

We haven't yet heard about a pay award this year, but we know it won't be much because all our projects are funded by health or social care money, and there's not a lot of that around.

If our salaries had gone up in line with NMW, my full-time colleagues would be on over £50k a year.

I think you should look elsewhere OP, you've been treated really shoddily and if my area is anything to go by, there are plenty of jobs in hospitality atm.

I think the minimum wage went up too far too fast. A colleague I am training is not even a year out of university and he is earning the same salary I was on after 10 years of experience. It’s very demotivating.

My other issue is that the minimum wage should be the lowest wage you can get, not the default. If you have any qualifications or experience, you should be getting paid more than it.

I'd expect you to have the lowest % too.

Someone on £20k gets a 4% payrise = £800 p/a

Someone on £40k gets 4% payrise = £1600 p/a

To keep your differential you only needed 2% compared their 4%.

The problem with hospitality is they have to pay everyone the same ie all floor staff, bar staff get x, supervisors get y, tams get z etc.

If one floor staff member is on more than the rest, the rest will kick off and either demand more or put more work on the higher paid person. We had an awful manager once who gave pay rises to some people and not others and it was utter chaos.

What sort of contract are you on? 0 hour? If so, you'd be seen as too expensive to have on when working out shifts.

If everyone is in the same boat, then yeah the company is slowly screwing you all. Possibly through necessity but id bet their HO staff and GMs aren't being denied pay rises.

Start looking elsewhere. See if you can also retrain.