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.

Wages, insurance and fuel costs are staggeringly high in care homes. The vast majority don't make much or any profit these days. It's a huge myth that people are getting rich from owning care homes.

https://econofact.org/factbrief/did-us-unemployment-fall-to-the-lowest-rate-in-50-years-under-biden?origin=serp_auto

I have a family member who runs his own free house pub. It's in a listed building with a very small kitchen, he can only have a small eating area. The pub is in a deprived area, only 2 other pubs in the town. With Covid loans still being paid off he cannot afford to pay all his staff 12 an hour. He recruits as many 18 year olds as he can keeping the wage bill down. There is no way that his business would be profitable if all his staff were paid 12 pound an hour. The locals want his pub to stay open as 3 others have closed in the past 5 years, he's restricted to what he can do by the building being listed. Does his business deserve to fail because he can't pay 12 pound an hour?

I know what you mean op. For instance, I do not hold a degree in the position I am in. The qualified professionals do. They earn only maybe 2-300 per month more than me but have way more responsibilities. For the extra stresses, It is really not worth it.

Not everyone on minimum wage gets universal credit. If you are in a couple and your partner earns more.

But I was more thinking of the people saying that the better paid jobs all have better terms and are easier work. I dont think that's true. Some jobs pay a tiny bit more than minimum and have the same terms and conditions.

"The UK’s second richest family has made their first move into the care home sector with the acquisition of Northampton-based provider Avery Healthcare.
Reuben Brothers, founded by Simon and David Reuben (pictured, left to right) and estimated to worth £21.5 billion in the 2021 Sunday Times Rich List, will enter into a 50/50 joint venture with US real estate investment trust and prominent UK care home investor Welltower Inc."

Yes, try that zero hour contract where you are given unreasonable demands with the threat of losing your hours if you don't comply.

In my old job I was being asked to do things that were illegal and if I refused I'd be given less hours or if they needed me the hours that gave me the shittest work/ life balance. It was like coercive control.

I got a new job recently and I'm so glad have a proper contract.

businesses should be able to make profits without expecting cheap labour @ZoeZee

@Ridiculousradish and me also! SEN TA and I'm mentally shattered by the end of the week.

This! 👍

They were already rich when they bought it!

not all care homes are privately funded. And with councils in debt, they don’t increase care fees.

I actually jumped ship from my nursing degree during Covid because I got an offer from a company that would pay me more than a qualified staff nurse makes without the added insult of the Government shitting all over me and my colleagues. My salary has only risen since then. I literally sit about and click buttons and look at spreadsheets and organise/run reports on data all day and don't get screamed at by patients/relatives/colleagues all day.

It's insulting to the people on the ground that put up with that shit that they also get paid barely anything for it.

Threads like this make me sick, I trained for 3years to become a hair stylist, just to earn minimum wage, unless you can work for yourself it's not worth it and in my area it's so oversaturated it's not viable, so I went back to retail.
I have 20+years of retail experience, but you try getting more than 16 hours work, they give all the spare hours to 16year olds because they can pay them less. All this will do is force companies to cut hours so their precious profits are not affected, so for people like me on NMW it will mean fuck all at the end of the day, i'll still struggle to make ends meet just like I always have.

Think you are missing ops point. I don't think she was being derogatory to those on nmw.

It's shit. The idea behind nmw is a noble one but all it does is put people like you in as shit a position as you were before because the problem hasn't changed just got more expensive.

This ^^

After years of blood, sweat and tears through three years of covid, we are looking at the very real possibility of closing. That’ll be 10 people out of work plus knock on effect on other small businesses that we buy from including some who work out of their own homes.

I’ll be bloody gutted. Despite investing tens of thousands and years of unpaid work, we, the owners, have never taken a single penny out of the business, which serves our community.

I’m sick of Starmer and Co portraying every business as if we were all exploitive multinationals deliberately screwing over workers. This govt is killing us.

I was on the NMW of my country until recently. They just lifted the wage here a few months ago. All it meant, really, is that my annual pay increase was less.

It's demoralising as I'm still being paid less, but expected to work my tail off - more so than when I earned double that rate. I'm on not much more now, and have realised just how much difference more money makes to your life. Also people treat you differently. The respect earning a lot vs min in a support role - well - some people do think they're better than you.

Tbh it's inspired me to pull back, not work as hard - and look for better paying jobs. There's literally no benefit in stepping back to NMW. It's not a fun place to be & not necessarily less stressful.

I think they do need to do something else but I don't know what
Every year min wage goes up and for a few months I have £100 after bills and it's really nice
Then the council tax goes up, then fuel, then gas/electric, then food, then broadband etc etc and back in the same situation as I was before my wage went up

The main reason governments (of any party) are so keen to increase NMW is because it lowers benefit payments. Most of those on NMW jobs claim UC. Increasing their hourly pay, lowers the benefits that are paid by the state. That is why it keeps happening. If those same governments actually cared about the lower paid they would increase UC entitlements by the same amount or inflation or anything really, but surprisingly enough, they don't do that.

Thank you.

I think theres something new incoming in a bit to stop zero hr contracts being allowed

Stop right to buy
Restrict additional home ownership
Restrict foreign purchases of properties
Sort out empty properties and bring them back into use
Restrict buy to let
Fund social housing

With respect, if you’ve invested tens of thousands and have never had any salary or dividend from the business, it’s not a viable business. That’s not to say it doesn’t have value in the community, as you say, but you’ve essentially got a non-profit that you think is a business.

it does show most companies cannot make profits without cheap labour otherwise they would pay what people are actually worth, overall then the businesses should fold if they cannot survive without cheap labour or they need to rethink their business model

I'm confused OP.
Is your grievance with the NMW increasing? Or the fact that more seemingly " skilled" employees are not getting pay rises, to in your opinion ( I think) justifiably bridge the pay gap between skilled and unskilled even further?