To think with min wage going up 6.7% that

[Frugalcheesecake]

Minimum wage is going up 6.7% next year. My pay has gone up by tiny amounts in comparison to this and is stagnating some years compared to inflation. I only earn a bit above min wage and I find my job very stressful.

Yes I know some minimum wage jobs are stressful but Ive done some that are easy too. AIBU to think that if min wage gets close to your wage a lot of people will quit just to get an easier min wage job if they can find one that is less stress

A few of my ex colleagues work in supermarkets now, sure the work is still hard and not a walk in the park, but stress levels and work you have to do outside of work for free are reduced so much. Do you think its a good thing trained professionals with sometimes decades of experience are applying for these jobs? What does that do for the chances of other applicants?

Negotiate your salary.
If you have a job requiring qualifications and certain skills, you havexan argument for getting a salary above minimum wage.
Open your mouth, ask for what you want

Similar in nursing. Lowest Band 5 RGN pay is not a great deal more than a Band 3 health care support worker (about £3 an hour). Band 3s also get a bigger % for unsocial hours than band 5s, and pay proportionately less tax/NI. So the take home pay between the two can be marginal.

I know of some band 5s who have chosen to step down to band 3 posts as there is much less stress and responsibility. They can always go back to the band 5 role in the future.

Isn’t the student debt repayment threshold going down to £25k?
The irritating thing for me is that benefits are used to plug gaps so once a total ‘package’ for a family who rents is compared you have families who have the same disposable income whether they’re on NMW or have studies and grafted for years to work up to a better paying job. It’s real disincentive to effort.
People who can afford a family in London are either high earners or on benefits. The middle are stuffed.

Stacking shelves is very boring work - I’m surprised people can stick it for very long - I’ve had a few boring jobs and I don’t think they deserve to be paid less as a consequence - they made me feel utterly miserable. A bit of pressure and stress make a job more enjoyable.

Isn’t the student debt repayment threshold going down to £25k?

Yes, but just for new students who start their course after September 2023.
For plan 1 students (started their course before September 2012), the repayment threshold has always been below £25k.

It went up to just over £27k when the student fees went up in 2012. So if you started uni between September 2012 and September 2023, it's higher.

I get what you're re saying, but the cleaner probably only works 1 or 2 hours a day, so in reality your salary is a lot higher. Jobs like cleaning need some incentive or no one would ever do them. A decent hourly rate is necessary to get anyone to do the job at all.

It depends what sector you're in, if it's public sector then no chance.

I'd like to know the secret to being offered one of these stress free NMW roles. In my experience it isn't at all easy to be offered such a job. I've tried. And given up. Do you scrap your entire work history from your CV? I have returned to work recently and find myself in a job that 20 years ago I would have dreamed of, but at 51 I just wanted simplicity. I have years of experience, qualifications and a degree and for all the NMW part time jobs I applied to I received zero interview offers. So it's easier said than done.

Yup. During Covid several of my clients who had their own businesses started working nmw jobs such as drivers or supermarket workers as they were banned from running their businesses due to lockdowns and restrictions. They realised they were making more money with less stress for the hours worked so never restarted their businesses. Some included small guesthouses and small shops. So it’s definitely a thing that the nmw increasing has reduced the need for people to work harder or longer in more demanding roles.

I work for a charity, the wage compression between my wage and the minimum wage means I can no longer pay my pension via salary sacrifice as it would take me below the NMW, This means I effictively pay tax at a higher rate than someone on 2k a year more than me. There are hidden consequences.

I work in the nhs just above min wage. The problem is as the wage goes up they cut staff. I now do the job of 2 people because they've cut staff. So yeah, I'm stressed and knackered. So it's not all rosey out there on min wage. Anyone is welcome to get a min wage job.

Cleaning is hard work.I’d rather arrange meetings and take minutes than clean loos.

Everyone has short memories. These easy minimum wage jobs were the ones that kept the country running during covid. It's easy to look down your nose at cleaners and supermarket workers but you needed them more than you needed the high flying bankers, solicitors etc. A pay rise is long overdue for these workers.

Don't like your job OP? Change it.

What gives you the right to expect other people's circumstances to be subject to yours?

Anyone else getting sick of these whingey rightwing goad threads?

I've said this for a long time. The hierarchy of salary needs to be maintained plus benefits heed to between into account. It should not be the case that you can receive more money working part time and on benefits than working full time.

Anyone else getting sick of these whingey rightwing goad threads?

Yes, and the constant race to the bottom.

Are you suggesting that minimum wage jobs are not stressful?

No, you are wrong. I was working 3 days a week so 22.5 and the cleaner worked 20 hours a week if I remember correctly so not much difference at all.

Her salary wasn't high to incentivise someone to do her job. Theres plenty of people willing. She was on minimum wage. My point was that salaries for decent jobs are too low. Suffice to say I only lasted a year there as I got the experience and moved on to a better paying job with less responsibility! Absolute madness salaries here!.

Minimum wage has been going up significantly for a while now

2021: £8.91
2022: £9.50 6,6%
2023: £10.42 9.6%
2024: £11.44 9.5%
2025: £12.21 6.9%

Good, because every time it goes up it throws more onus on employers to pay properly and helps remove the need for taxpayers to subsidise them through in work benefits. Far better that people earn their money than rely on top up benefits.

True - and it was also the reason that I left my previous job because the employer couldn't afford to increase my pay because NMW was increasing the cost of the payroll so I left to go to a company that paid better.

I personally think it's worrying that more and more jobs are hovering around the minimum wage and that people are expected to have more and more experience, skills, qualifications etc to do them. I'm always surprised how strongly people argue that no job is harder or worth more to a company/society than a minimum wage one on these threads.

I'd argue that stacking shelves and cleaning toilets are actually very important jobs.

@Frugalcheesecake . I know a lot of dental nurses who feel like this . Some are leaving the profession already.