NMW to increase again next year to £12.21 ph.

[ZoeZee]

If you’ve not had a pay rise this year, despite bringing it up to your employer, and now there’s set to be another 6% NMW increase next year (which is fantastic, don’t get me wrong) the pay gap is narrowing ever more between skilled/unskilled employees.

Skilled and those with MANY years of experience, might as ditch their responsible/stressful jobs (which often keep you awake at night) and look for something that doesn’t have the added responsibility?

Almost 20 years experience means nothing to some employers! AIBU?

Any employers who have a view on this increase, please let me know how this might affect you and your staff.

But we need carers, TAs, bin men, nursery staff…. so it is the job of the taxpayer to make up salaries.

Many people doing these jobs do have qualifications.

They will still be making up salaries though because many just drop hours as they don't want to lose the freebie handouts.

All of those you've listed are indirectly funded by the government - I.e. contracted out services from LAs, work within government funded or subsidised sectors, if its so easy and right to pay people a fair wage, why isn't the government leading the way?

Who is they and if you are working contracted hours how does that happen?

Maybe they will.

Begrudging people £12.21 an hour? Really?

And then you get punished by UC with a sanction if you do that.

I know-80p rise for something that happens every year and is less than last year.🙄

I think the government is woefully inept if it introduces the change without also making arrangements to support the business such as care homes, nurseries etc which are providing vital services. Particularly as the government have been acutely aware of the cost of living crisis which has.impacted all businesses as well as people - just when businesses were finding an even keel their cost base is ramped up again - and for services like these there is an argument that they should be supported through this.

Why should they be supported and not other businesses? They are businesses at the end of the day, often making huge profits.

Let's see shall we.

Small businesses that can't afford decent wages are not healthy thriving businesses. Any business dependent on cheap labour is not adding value to the economy.

I sympathise with sectors where government funding is a big part of their income (care, childcare/education), the government will need to raise funding to ensure they can continue.

And I'm sure they'll be delighted to be on the same wage as someone with no qualifications at all.

It’s not the country that pays.

it’s the employers.

Those on UC really can’t win. We do the jobs that none of you want to do, most of us were deemed “essential” during a bloody pandemic and you all stood clapping for us.
It’s not unreasonable to want a decent wage for doing that work.
We are topped up because you cannot live on NMW, but yeah, we are all totally in it for the freebie handouts. I love the fact that I can’t get off UC unless I can somehow almost double my income.
In case you hadn’t noticed most of us are also working full time.

No, some of them are living on a knife edge and will close and their staff will lose their jobs. Not that that matters to you as it doesn't affect you at all.

Not all businesses are raking in profits year after year. Some have tough times.

It's unbelievable how people who have kids at nursery are expecting the government to protect them and noone else. Hypocrites.

I saw a social workers job today for 14.5 pounds an hour, an associate dentist for 16 pounds per hour. Who is going to bother!

You get UC, what more do you want? If you want even more per hour then work yo gain qualifications and apply for another job. You surely can't expect the tax payer to subsidise you to the point you can live as comfortably as someone with a highly qualified profession?

I work in retail, I am worried that my colleagues will have their hours reduced to make up the extra spend in wages. This has happened every time. Nobody is better off than before the rise 😓

It's going up less then last year so I really wouldn't worry

Nor is it for the person deemed not to have the qualifications to be working yet unable to feed their children.
Not everyone has a degree, not everyone is vastly intelligent, but it doesn’t matter.
Work needs to pay, otherwise where is the point.
A great many NMW earners are single mums (myself included) who are let down by the CMS system, who are hounded by UC and who often have no choice but to take the less desirable jobs out there.
Why are we worth less?

Because you haven't put that time and effort into getting professional qualifications.

Why should you be paid as much as a social worker with a degree and qualifications, or an assistant dentist?

It's 6.7% when inflation is 2%

So should other workers on wages slightly above the NMW in a company get 6.7% as well?

This was one of the reasons why I left my other job. I was in a managerial position in a charity. But the charity had little money. But other the time I was there, the NMW increased by nearly 40% - and as we had a lot of people on NMW, it left little money for other people to get a pay rise.

Eventually there was about a 15% difference between my pay and the people on NMW.

Which is probably what the OP is about. NMW has increased a lot in percentage terms but what about people above that.

Anyway I left and am on a better salary. I do know that the charity will find it hard to fund this - just as they found it hard to fund previous increases. When you employ a lot of NMW workers, 6.7% is a big part of the wage bill.

For context, NMW went up 10% last year. (£10.42 to £11.44) and by 6.7% the year before

National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage rates - GOV.UK

Factor in NI contributions as well.

I expect to live like a person who works full time. I expect a system whereby I do not need a top up to a full time wage to be able to live.
I have qualifications btw, I am not stupid.
I am not quite sure how you deem the taxpayer to be topping me up? I presume you feel alongside not getting an increase in wage as I am not worthy enough, I shouldn’t get UC either? Is that the point you are making? That I shouldn’t think myself lucky that I get topped up to the minimum deemed necessary to live on?