Will everyone be on it soon?

[AGreenBanana927]

Minimum wage going up by nearly 7% in April and past few years have seen some large increases in percentage (rightly so) but myself and friends we arent getting that much and the gap between my wage and min wage is getting closer and closer when wealth inequality getting worse

AIBU that soon a lot of jobs will just be on min wage soon and that the UK actually needs a maximum wage?

We have had years of wage stagnation in the UK. I know a lot of teachers have left the profession, particularly maths teachers, because they can earn more doing private tutoring. It is also a reason why lots of teachers don’t go for additional responsibility. The pay is just not worth it.

That’s not what she said or meant at all.

Maybe I misinterpreted - but I would consider someone with £500 a month more than me in their paycheque to be pretty loaded, lol.

That would pay my mortgage and council tax!

£500 wouldn’t cover most people’s mortgage and council tax.

The average UK rent is around £1,000 and the average council tax £200pcm.

Ok ‘‘twas me then!

This doesn't make sense. Presumably at the time you employed her the value of the role to the company was £11.50 ph. Raises that would cover inflation alone during that time sets the price of that work at £12.80 ph so a wage that covers inflation plus retention needs to be higher. Even retention rates of 4% (reflecting a level of in job expertise gained through basic competence) plus inflationary increases would place her value as £13.70 now which is 10% over the proposed minimum wage for next month. Do you not have pay scales and corresponding performance measures where you are?

Which is why minimum wage needs to increase to keep up with the ridiculous cost of living (although something needs to be done about rent too)

my council tax is £147 because I get single person discount. I couldn’t afford to rent if that was the rent near me but luckily my area is fairly cheap and my mortgage is quite small now

I imagine people are staying in abusive relationships just because they have no way to afford to leave on their own

well, what do you mean by "other jobs"
Are you saying a supermarket cashier should be paid the same as a doctor or a lawyer or a police officer?

nobody is denying minimum wage jobs are important and necessary. But some jobs are both important AND have a lot of responsibility AND require a lot of training.

In some places you can get more working as a cashier for aldi than you will for your first year as an ambulance paramedic - which one has more responsibility, requires more training and is more important to society?

We are never going to arrive at a completely fair society - if we were then carers would be paid more than footballers. It's probably easier to think of it within the same sector rather than comparing apples to oranges.

Nobody (or at least nobody decent) would argue that minimum wage jobs deserve to be paid well, or at least fairly. The point people are making is that there should always be an incentive to work at the 'next level', otherwise people won't bother.

If you are a consultant you should be paid more than a junior doctor, to reflect your added experience and additional qualifications and responsibility.
The same applies if you are a supervisor in a supermarket, you should be paid more than a cashier. If you are in overall charge of payroll for a large company you should get paid more than the new starter who does the basic admin. If you are a teacher you should get paid more than the teaching assistant.

But repeated increases to minimum wage without corresponding increases throughout the rest of the organisation mean that people start thinking 'hang on why am I doing all this extra work, have all this extra stress and responsibility and am paying back a fortune in student loan, for what works out after tax as 10p an hour more than my colleague who doesn't have any of that?"

I know that.

I guess I just don’t see the issue with £500 a month being the difference between NMW and the average wage. It basically means someone on the average salary earns 100k more a decade than someone on MW - that’s a lot of money.

@faerietales anything sounds like a big number if you multiply it over a decade…!

In any case - it’s not really £100k over a decade, it’s an extra £60k over a decade after tax.

But it’s not “only 60k after tax” just like it’s not “only £500 a month” - there are so many other benefits that come with a higher salary - better pensions, better working hours, more annual leave, not having to do shifts or weekends or bank holidays. Better amounts of sick pay, less physical stress and strain…

I do get where you’re coming from but I think it’s too simplistic.

Well said 👏🏻

Actually the higher salary you get if argue the worse your hours become - and the more likely you work for a salary rather than an hourly wage and so do more hours with no extra pay.

Additional holidays and pension benefits are down to the company, not if you earn £35k not £25k.

All sorts of jobs do weekend shifts and bank holidays.

Less physical stress and strain - again, entirely depends on the role. There are plenty of very physical jobs which will be earning around average salaries for the UK.

This is happening where I work. Come April i'll be on just 9p more than minimum wage due to not getting a pay rise this year.

Then your employer is not paying you enough.

True, but it's the same for pretty much all in this industry.

If it gets to the stage where the job I have years of experience in, and requires experience and all sorts of other things, gets paid the same as someone doing a minimum wage job then I will leave and go and work behind a bar again.

Because what would be the point of me putting all the effort in to get experience, take on responsibility not just for my work but high level execs too, when I could go work in a bar for much less stress and one where my hours are starting and finishing at set times, rather than when the work is done.

Just had a recruiter call me about a job here. £13.50 per hour. Apparently I have a great CV and years of experience in my technical specialism. £13.50….

but…. “They offer free tea and coffee” 🤣 I actually laughed. It’s 2025 not 2005! This is not a perk

You've hit the nail on the head. In what universe is government subsidising the wages of companies who earn (in some cases) billions of pounds a year going to stimulate wages? Quick answer - it isn't.

COL in the UK has gone up to near US levels, especially housing but the wages remain artificially low. I've had a relative move over from Australia recently then go back very quickly after realising their costs were the same but their salary was substantially reduced.

Many mw jobs are precarious. Contracted to minimal hours each week but with the expectation that you'll be available as and when. If you turn down the extra hours, you'll not get offered more.

Saying you'll just take a nwm job for lower stress ignores this reality.

If you want to be paid more, unionise, and put pressure on the business to do so

Fair point, but generally the more you earn, the more flexibility you have, and the more benefits you have. That’s generally true no matter what industry you work in.

Let’s be honest - there are very, very few people who will have the same benefits and a better work life balance working for NMW in a supermarket than they would currently have earning 10k more in a higher skilled role.

I’m a cleaner for a nursery on nmw,I’m looking forward to earning a decent hourly rate,why shouldn’t I,I bust my arse,work evenings.

But if you have increased her pay less than inflation in the last two years you have actually effectively reduced
her pay
She might not be amazing but she is right to expect her pay to keep pace with inflation. Otherwise the purchasing power of what you are paying her is dropping and you are effectively cutting her pay though you may not feel you are.
Bet you haven't given yourself below inflation pay increases

I currently work in the private sector and I asked for a pay review towards the end of 2023 (the first time I’ve ever approached my boss with such a request) due to the 6% nmw rise in April 2024! I’m still waiting for that pay review.

As such, I’m voting with my feet and have secured another job, in the public sector, and while this sector can also be poorly paid, the promotional opportunities, flexi time, better holidays, HR, union, better pension, all round more security, makes it at much more rewarding place to work.

Once I hand in my notice I won’t be trying to negotiate a pay rise. If my employer had valued me he would have offered me one before it came to this. I won’t be doing to counteroffer dance and I can’t wait to leave!

More companies will just start sub contracting instead, then they have no NI, no pension contributions and can get away with paying peanuts simply because some self employed people are willing to undercut others, therefore devaluing everyone else.

DH has just lost around £10k of sub contracting work because he’s not willing to drop his rates any further. 3 years ago he was being paid £45 per job , then it went to £40, then £35 last year, now they want to pay £30.
Some idiot firm from 40 miles away has taken all his work, they can’t be making any money from it, the fuel cost alone will take up most of the profit.