The New Minimum Wage 2016 ?

Darksparkle

noelphobic wrote: »

They're calling it the National Living Wage but it's just a new name for what was the minimum wage.

I shouted at the TV when Osborne announced this nonsense.

The minimum wage does still exist though. It's being called the national living wage because it is a top up to the minimum wage for the over 25s.

Under 25s will still get the national minimum wage for their age group.

bugslet

ohreally wrote: »

Who would decide what this figure is? Any uplift would erode the pay differential between lower/ higher grades, how would this be addressed?

It's pretty simple. The government have decided that people should be paid more. Now supposing that I paid my staff minimum wage and now and saw an increase in April to the Living Wage, that would represent an increase in annual wage costs of say £20k over all staff. I have to increase my costs. I may decide it's not worth the aggro and finish the business or I may be one of those whose competitor closes and the purchaser has no/less choice to pay for the service/product. In the case of nursing homes, people will need caring for whatever and either the Purchaser, be they council or private, will need to find the extra money.

And so the merry go round goes on spinning.

System

And wage rises are just a natural and necessary part of inflation (main one is house price inflation as that holds up banks)

milliemonster

ohreally wrote: »

Who would decide what this figure is? Any uplift would erode the pay differential between lower/ higher grades, how would this be addressed?

Well it's already been decided what this figure is hasn't it?, as for pay differentials being eroded, yes I agree, as a nurse I know that the pay for s newly qualified nurse (which as there is a pay freeze for the next 4 years is not going to increase) will in 2020 be less that the living wage when it hits £9 an hour

We will all be on minimum wage in a few years, but I still believe it's unacceptable for businesses to be paying poor wages where people cannot afford the essentials in life and are having to be topped up by taxpayers

System

I keep wonder where all the money went when its apparently difficult to pay the poor, when both businesses and government claim to not be able to do it. We're supposed to be a rich country and getting richer over time. Either they really truely believe that excessive pay elsewhere is 100% necessary, or population growth is becoming a strain, or its all a load of text-i-calls to scare us into voting for low wages and welfare cuts

Cycrow

MatthewAinsworth wrote: »

Robots can drive and read pedestrians so it wouldn't be far fetched to think one could watch a swallow. Patients could just have a chip in their tags...

Detecting if someone is swallowing is considerably more difficult than detecting the presence of a pedestrian when driving.

sangie595

MatthewAinsworth wrote: »

I keep wonder where all the money went when its apparently difficult to pay the poor, when both businesses and government claim to not be able to do it. We're supposed to be a rich country and getting richer over time. Either they really truely believe that excessive pay elsewhere is 100% necessary, or population growth is becoming a strain, or its all a load of text-i-calls to scare us into voting for low wages and welfare cuts

You cannot seriously be wondering where all the money is? Businesses that cannot afford to produce a marketable product (for whatever reason) are called "liquidated" or "insolvent". The rest are making profits. The question is not where all the money is - it is a question of whose pocket it is in. Or, increasingly, where that pocket is geographically located. I am pretty sure the likes of Amazon and all the other multi-nationals know exactly where their money is. Not in the UK and not paid in taxes.

pinpin

When does the 7.20 start? At last, a pay rise for me!!!!! quite a big one, too

Pennywise

MatthewAinsworth wrote: »

Care homes do make me wonder, we charge £500 to £800 per week yet we can't afford a rise in pittance, wonder where its going or how wasteful they may be with managers wages, rent of premises, loans, etc

What's even more worrying is that it's actually cheaper for the state to pay private care homes to look after the old and disabled which is why they closed down most/all of the state owned/operated old age and care homes in the first place. How on earth was it more expensive for the state to run such homes themselves than to pay several hundred pounds per week to private businesses who make profits? There must have been a hell of a lot of inefficiency in those state run homes for the expensive private sector ones to be cheaper!

System

I think state care had higher standards and wage standards, whereas outsourcing to private companies means they can cut corners without consequences for the government. The living wage combined with the states 1% pay freeze will reduce the private advantage