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.

It will just drive prices up, making the new wage worse than the old one.
This government is just as short-sighted and incompetent as the last.

My husband says similar. Usually hes going to get a night shelf stacking job locally.
I am forever reminding him that it's a physical job, and he is getting older. The people that employ shelf stackers dont want almost 60 year old men working for them doing that job. Its already covered by young men who the hours suit and are capable of 8 hours of heavy lifting. Locally can still mean needing a car. The money is shit for the role. The hours are shit. You work year round, no time off at Christmas. No nice bank holidays and no time off in lieu or double wages.

And in his case, a boss who will expect 30 cages emptied and shelved properly every night.

When you get to the nitty gritty of these kinds of roles, it's not all that cracking.

And yes, nail on head to all the PPs who highlighted that if an employee has to rely on state-funded top-ups to make their pay then shame on the Employer. Tax Credits were great, UC not so much.

I honestly hope that any proposed increases don't apply to the truly Small Businesses though, less than 30 full-time employees, I suggest. Many small businesses keep people in work - as well as often actually 'producing' something that people really do want. Not some mass-produced shite that people 'think' they want.

How do you fix that though? Without saying every home in the UK needs to be revalued by 2030 and forever more can't cost any more than that price how do you fix it?

Well, good for you

Band 2 are GP receptionists, health records clerks, porters, cleaners, a huge portion of the HCAs, catering staff and MLAs

I think this is so true but people on higher wages don’t want to admit that. Also in the retail sector being treated like dirt or verbally abused by some customers.

Simply put just continually increasing NMW is just driving inflation

Spot on and those in jobs on MW/NLW have appalling terms and conditions; in complete contrast to those in highly paid autonomous jobs.

It's the modern version of printing money, which always ends well.

I think my perspective comes from having several jobs one of which is minimum wage. I actually prefer that one but do the others as they pay varying amounts more. The one just above minimum i really think I will ditch for more hours in the minimum wage one. But I would ditch the minimum wage one if I could get enough hours in my best paid role.

The thing to remember is the tax free allowance makes up more of a lower wage, so even though a role might be say 2k more, the whole lot is taxed as you've used your allowance.

I think a lot of people on this post are thinking of jobs that pay 35, 40k not just a tiny bit above minimum.

Weird how this never happens anywhere when the minimum wage has been increased. In fact it's one of the reasons for the boost in the US economy, which is seeing its lowest rates of unemployment for 50 years.

Wages where people can't afford to live and need benefits when they work mean the business model is broken , or else someone is profiting, using tax payer money to help them along

I was literally just thinking, at this new rate, particularly where I live in one of the cheapest places in the country, I would be better off getting a shit but stress free job.

35k and 40k is the group that will be hit hardest though. No UC but will stop their kids classes, stop going out for dinner, not buy a new car, lose the cleaner etc.

Why on earth is this daft? Infact, it’s fucjing daft to even say it.

If businesses have to pay out more on staff, prices go up for the consumer or they get made redundant. Unemployment & prices are pushed up.

Absolutely nothing daft about that.

Staff deserve to be properly paid for their work

But to raise this AND employer's NI contributions plus goodness knows what else, at the same time, is bonkers.

Because companies going out of business helps absolutely no-one, including government

Has the US increased Employer's outgoings in other areas at the same time?

Are you sure about US unemployment rates, can you link to this?

No ones disputing a fair wage for a day's work, the general mood of the thread is "this is going to hurt" because we can all see how this is going to raise the cost of living again.

You think this is worse than Liz Truss???

Exactly, why should small businesses and charities go under because salaries have had to go up and up to chase a silly housing market.

Exactly. Also the day one rights like unfair dismissal mean that businesses, especially small businesses, are less likely to take on "risky" employees. We employ people out of rehab, homeless, ex-offenders etc. Most of them work out and are great employees but when they don't they can also cause a lot of problems when they're fired (false claims, threatening to sue in an effort to be "paid off" etc). The increasing risk of tribunals claims makes it much riskier to employ people with non-traditional backgrounds, so lots of employers will no longer take a chance on these people.

Out of interest, how many in the current government have worked outside the public sector?

Oh if only life was so simple.

Apart from the fact the cost is passed on to the end user - look at the people posting on this thread about nurseries. Many will go under and that will affect people's ability to work.