Minimum wage ?

50Twuncle

I am currently earning virtually minimum pay (£7.29 per hour) based on a 10 hour week (£316 per month)
I work 39 weeks/year and my wage is averaged out over the year (so I am paid for 52 weeks)
What concerns me is that if the minimum wage increases to say £8 per hour - that will put many people like myself on the very bottom rung of the scale.

I am an IT professional with over 20 years experience - yet my employers (a school) are not willing to increase my income to a living wage !!
I do enjoy the job though and cannot relocate at the moment - there are no suitable alternative jobs locally...

What would you do ?

tomtontom

Has anything changed since you last asked the question?

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5284223

Flyonthewall

You can't relocate, the school can't pay more and there's currently no other suitable jobs. Not sure what you expect people to suggest other than to keep looking out for another job if you want to move. There's no magic answer.

However, you have a job and one you enjoy, that is currently above minimum wage. The minimum wage has only just gone up so it's not going to happen again soon. So right now, if it were me, I'd be happy I have a decent paying job and, more importantly, one I enjoy. If things change then you can reconsider your situation.

Takeaway_Addict

50Twuncle wrote: »

I am currently earning virtually minimum pay (£7.29 per hour) based on a 10 hour week (£316 per month)
I work 39 weeks/year and my wage is averaged out over the year (so I am paid for 52 weeks)
What concerns me is that if the minimum wage increases to say £8 per hour - that will put many people like myself on the very bottom rung of the scale.

I am an IT professional with over 20 years experience - yet my employers (a school) are not willing to increase my income to a living wage !!
I do enjoy the job though and cannot relocate at the moment - there are no suitable alternative jobs locally...

What would you do ?

If you really needed the money for living would you not work more than 10 hours a week?

[Deleted User]

That's astoundingly low pay for an IT job (e.g. my job in IT pays £28 per hour, and I work from home) - but if your '20 years of experience' are in low-paying jobs, that may not give you much stretch to move elsewhere.

You're on the lowest peg of IT salaries.. so why are you that bothered? Just be happy to get a payrise

Have you considered going self-employed?

50Twuncle

I would like to work, perhaps 16 hours a week
but cutbacks make that a 'pipe dream'
I was made redundant in 2009 - where I earned £25 + per hour

Flyonthewall

blondebubbles wrote: »

I suppose it depends on what you mean by soon. It's going up again in April for the over 25s to £7.20 per hour.

The NMW isn't going up, the introduction of the NLW is going to cause a rise. That's still 6 months away though, the OP is still slightly above that and that's not likely to go up again soon after that.

As someone else said, it going up further means a payrise anyway which surely isn't a bad thing and, as I said, at that point they can reconsider things, but unless their situation changes there's not really anything they can do anyway. Can't magic up other jobs or the possibility of relocation.

agrinnall

What reason does your employer have to increase your wage, you've been doing the job for chicken feed for however long you've been there, why should they change that now? The only way to force their hand is to threaten to leave and be prepared to do it if they decline to pay you more - but if you're not willing to look elsewhere then I think you've shafted yourself.

50Twuncle

agrinnall wrote: »

What reason does your employer have to increase your wage, you've been doing the job for chicken feed for however long you've been there, why should they change that now? The only way to force their hand is to threaten to leave and be prepared to do it if they decline to pay you more - but if you're not willing to look elsewhere then I think you've shafted yourself.

I have saved my employer, many £1000's over the past five years through changes to system and policies - which would not have happened otherwise

AndI I have personal reasons why a move is not possible at the moment !!

agrinnall

50Twuncle wrote: »

I have saved my employer, many £1000's over the past five years through changes to system and policies - which would not have happened otherwise

AndI I have personal reasons why a move is not possible at the moment !!

But that's part of your job - I once saved my employer £6 million per annum, and got a £20 voucher from the affected department as my reward. I had a bit of a whinge to my boss about it but I wasn't expecting my salary to go up 50% because of it.

If you can't move then all you can do is present your reasons to your employer why you think you should be paid more, but if they know you can't leave don't expect them to do much about it.

getmore4less

If you only work 10hr plenty of time to find contract work that can be done from home.

Just to check they are paying the holiday pay on top of the 39 worked weeks?