Minimum Wage

[jackrivers]

For people age between 16 & 18 the national minimum wage is currently £3.53 per hour. For those ages between 18 & 21 it is £4.77.

I for one am sure that if doing the same job as someone aged 18, i could do the exact same amount of work to just as high a standard but would earn over £1.20 less an hour.

Why is this? Any ideas anyone?

[Paul]

Those aged 16-18 are usually subject to further health and safety requirements to those over 18 (meaning more cost to employers) - also it is generally accepted that most of those under 18 will have less costs than those over 18 (due to living at home etc).

[Gotlieb Alexander]

The government don't want to persuade 16-18 year olds to leave education for work

I don't like the minimum wage, or the equal pay act and would like everyone to be free to negotiate their own contract

[Marcus89]

The government don't want to persuade 16-18 year olds to leave education for work

I don't like the minimum wage, or the equal pay act and would like everyone to be free to negotiate their own contract

Which would cause alot of people to be vastly underpaid for the work they do. Minimum wage is a good idea, buisnesses and retail are their to make profit, if allowed they could offer low pay wages, and people will have little say.

Having said that, mimimum wage should not be anything over £6 p/h, it should be kept at a basic, but reasonable rate for the benifit of both employer and employee.

[Gotlieb Alexander]

Which would cause alot of people to be vastly underpaid for the work they do. Minimum wage is a good idea, buisnesses and retail are their to make profit, if allowed they could offer low pay wages, and people will have little say.

Having said that, mimimum wage should not be anything over £6 p/h, it should be kept at a basic, but reasonable rate for the benifit of both employer and employee.

According to Milton Friedman, anyone who's productivity to an employer is profitable to a value less than the minimum wage is set to be permanently unemployed in any state which uses minimum wages.

[Sylvester Okomboa]

I often wonder whether the minimum wage is used as an informal cartel by business and that many workers who receive the minimum wage would actually get more money if the minimum wage didn't exist

[EmmaGallen]

Minimum wage should be higher than the unemployment benefit.

Sainsbury's now have people working for no wage but the government have put them there to "earn" their unemployment benefit. Pretty much my locla Sainsburys have a woman who rarely turns up, is completely unsuited to the job and just turns up once a fortnight so as to keep her dole money.

[Sylvester Okomboa]

Minimum wage should be higher than the unemployment benefit.

Sainsbury's now have people working for no wage but the government have put them there to "earn" their unemployment benefit. Pretty much my locla Sainsburys have a woman who rarely turns up, is completely unsuited to the job and just turns up once a fortnight so as to keep her dole money.

It's a good idea, but the government should stop her benefit while she fails to turn up.

[EmmaGallen]

She'd come in and leave after an hour claiming to be ill. I sannoying because I applied there but never heard back!

[Sylvester Okomboa]

Surely the same rules apply to her as to every other employee, my dad and I both work in Sainsbury's and I'm pretty sure that if we only worked an hour on each shift we wouldn't be kept around for long

[EmmaGallen]

It's because they are doing some government thing, not actually working for the company. I don't understand it totally was my neighbour who works with her was complaining saying if she was hired by them she'd be gone by now.

[Rootsie]

You are probably paid less becuase of the minimum wage. Before it was introduced companies had to pay a reasonable fee in order to get people to work for them.

[Gotlieb Alexander]

You are probably paid less becuase of the minimum wage. Before it was introduced companies had to pay a reasonable fee in order to get people to work for them.

True, the minimum wages leads to an "informal cartel" where employers simply use the minimum wage figure instead of thinking up a competitive wage rate for themselves

[AKU//]

Minimum wage should be higher than the unemployment benefit.



It already is. On the adult minimum working a 40 hour week you earn, allowing for holidays etc.

over 11K a year before tax. With tax credits that won't go down much.

[monkeyuncle]

Hi i am currently running for UKYP and if i win i am going to keep this in mind and try and stop this travesty!
im going to town hall on the 17th to get my results and see if i win but im GOING TO mention this!

[Paul]

Hi i am currently running for UKYP and if i win i am going to keep this in mind and try and stop this travesty!
im going to town hall on the 17th to get my results and see if i win but im GOING TO mention this!

What may I ask is the travesty?

[AwesomeEvs]

Govt. do not want young people in employment that much? Hence EMA and other similar schemes to keep them in school ...

Companies will go with whatever, they are nearly all motivated by profit. (Advanced business analysis I know!)

/Evs

[LukeStock05]

It certainly seems a good scheme, making people work for their dole money. I seem to remember the conservative party making such a proposal recently??

I had no idea such a system was already in place...Although this case shows that it is drastically flawed.

[PKDhande]

Andy Marlow - I have a lot of time for him - is one of the Birmingham d/MYPs and is running a campaign on this:

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=47536434682

[Mockler]

equal pay, hear hear.