National Minimum Wage increases
An above-inflation rise comes into effect and Government pledges to crack down on employers not paying it.
The adult National Minimum Wage has risen to £6.50 an hour, an above-inflation 3% increase on the previous hourly rate of £6.31.
The rate for 18- to 20-year-olds has risen from £5.03 to £5.13. The rate for under 18s has risen from £3.72 to £3.79 and for young apprentices and those in their first year of training it’s increased from £2.68 to £2.73.
However, it's the first real-terms increase in the Minimum Wage since 2008.
New figures from thinktank the Resolution Foundation show the number of people being paid Minimum Wage has doubled since it was introduced in 1999.
A record 1.2 million people are now paid the Minimum Wage with a further 1.3 million people earning within 50p an hour of it.
The Government has pledged a crackdown on employers who don’t pay the Minimum Wage, with the threat of fines up to £200,000.
Labour has pledged to increase the Minimum Wage to £8 if it wins power.
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Errata. In my last comment, I mislaid my sliderule, and did the calculations in my head. The under 18 percentage should be 1.88 percent, not 1.85 percent. Sorry about that.
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If you're an adult on NMW you get a whopping inflation-busting 3 (yes 3) percent. But the percentages for the youngsters are not given in the article. So I'll calculate them for you: [100(3.79 - 3.72)]/3.72 roughly equals 1.85 percent. And the young apprentices? [100(2.73-2.68)]/2.68 roughly equals 1.87 percent. Doesn't look so good for the youngsters, does it? A lot of youngsters have little to look forward to at two or three quid an hour. Many of them will be doing a man's work for a boy's wage. No wonder they would rather be on the dole. Even then, they don't bother to look for work, so they get sanctioned. And either they live off their parents, or they turn to a life of crime, or they become a perpetual student.Many of them reach adulthood without having done a day's work in their lives. That's not good for the future of UK society. Article: The Government has pledged a crackdown on employers who don’t pay the Minimum Wage, with the threat of fines up to £200,000. So what have they been doing up till now? Are we now being told that there have been people who have been earning less that NMW for years, and no one has done anything about it? And why a max fine of over £200,000? How about paying some compensation to those poor schmoes who have been ripped off by their employers?
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There was the leader of these fake Tories telling everyone how someone on minimum wage doing 30 hours would pay no tax and be better off. In order to fund that they will be having their working tax credit frozen, and their help with rent and council tax reduced by further cuts. So unlike the headlines you deceivingly try and spin, they won't be better off. All the help given to the low paid has now been clumped in a regarded with the same disdain as money given to the unwaged. Their 'making work pay' mantra they came into power didn't last long.
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06 October 2014