The rate will first take effect Jan. 1 for hospitality workers and will “create a phased approach for minimum wage increases for large businesses and small businesses with adjustments every six months to create consistency in the minimum wage citywide by July 1, 2023,” the city council said in a statement.
Tag Archive for Minimum Wage
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The IFS calls for minimum wage cut to help businesses
by Anna Jordan • • 0 Comments
Originally written by Anna Jordan on Small Business
The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has called on the government to temporarily cut the National Living Wage (NLW).
They’ve also recommended delaying the next increase in the NLW which is due next month. The wage is set to increase by 51p to £8.72 an hour.
In a statement released yesterday (25 March), the IFS said that the government should seek advice from the Low Pay Commission on the best course of action.
A rise in welfare makes sense while an increase in wages does not in a time where the labour market is drying up, according to the statement.
“The substantial increases in benefits – for example in Universal Credit and in Housing Benefit – announced last week are clearly an appropriate response as the government tries to protect people’s incomes,” said IFS researcher, Tom Waters.
“Whether the planned increase in the National Living Wage to £8.72 an hour as from the start of April still makes sense is open to question.”
He goes on to say that the move to raise National Living Wage to £8.72 was announced in October 2019. The economy looked very different to the way it does now: “It is extremely hard to
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Government backs down over minimum wage battle
by Timothy Adler • • 0 Comments
Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
The government has backed down in a row with businesses over the minimum wage.
Businesses that inadvertently push employees below the minimum wage by offering voluntary savings and benefit schemes to staff will no longer be fined.
>See also: Tory minimum wage pledge ‘not realistic’ for businesses, says IoD
The Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) said that companies offering salary sacrifice schemes – where employees exchange part of their pay in return for benefits such as childcare vouchers or other products – technically pushing employees below the minimum wage, would no longer face financial penalties.
Business minister Kelly Tolhurst said: “We want to make it as easy as possible for employers, especially small businesses and those trying to do right by their staff, to comply with National Minimum Wage rules, which is why we’re reforming regulations.”
>See also: Protecting employees from overworking and minimum wage underpayment
Previously, HMRC pursued supermarket Iceland for a tax bill of over £20m after it allowed staff to voluntarily join its Christmas Club savings scheme, which pushed some pay below the minimum wage.
The business department also said it would relaunch its “naming and shaming” of employers who breach minimum wage rules.
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Tory minimum wage pledge ‘not realistic’ for businesses, says IoD
by Timothy Adler • • 0 Comments
Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
The Institute of Directors says that the Government’s pledge to increase the minimum wage to £10.50 an hour by 2025 is divorced from reality.
Tek Parikh, chief economist at the Institute of Directors, told this morning’s Today radio show that the Chancellors’ minimum wage pledge “will certainly concern smaller businesses and retailers”.
Chancellor Sajid Javid announced plans for a compulsory minimum wage to be the highest in the world, extending the rate to all workers aged 21.
The move will affect four million low-paid workers.
See also: Protecting employees from overworking and minimum wage underpayment
Last week, the Labour Party pledged a £10 an hour minimum wage compared with £8.21 an hour currently for workers aged 25 and over.
However, business groups including the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) and the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) also raised their eyebrows at yesterday’s announcement.
Parikh said: “The announcement yesterday seems to be a bit unilateral and not in tandem with the reality that many businesses are currently facing.”
The IoD chief economist said that the Government should have consulted with business first, considering business conditions.
“The challenge for businesses now is that this announcement comes at a particularly difficult time for them. Costs
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Businesses increasing prices, avoiding investment to cope with rising pay
by Timothy Adler • • 0 Comments
Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
Small business owners have been paying themselves less, increasing prices, holding back investment and reducing staff hours in response to rising pay.
Seven in ten small business owners (71pc) have eaten into profits in order to absorb the National Living Wage being increased to £8.21 per hour in April. Nearly half of small businesses have had to increase prices (45pc), while 29pc have delayed investment and 23pc have reduced hours worked by staff, according to research.
The Federation of Small Businesses has called for politicians to stop putting up the national minimum wage because rising pay undermines SMEs’ ability to invest and grow.
“While politicians are locked in a battle of who can make the boldest promises on pay, they fail to acknowledge that – within many smaller businesses – bigger pay packets often mean less investment, fewer training opportunities and higher prices,” said Mike Cherry, the FSB’s national chairman.
“With pay now outstripping inflation, it’s harder and harder for small business owners to put funds aside for the investment needed to close the UK’s productivity gap.”
He called for the minimum wage to be set independently by the Low Pay Commission, which was set up alongside the
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A $15 Minimum Wage Sounds Good But Has Unintended Consequences
by Brett Goldberg • • 0 Comments
Employees’ health insurance shares, office perks and retirement plans are potentially all on the chopping block.
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Minimum wage protection should be extended to the self-employed
by Owen Gough • • 0 Comments
The government should extend minimum wage legislation to protect some of the UK’s 4.8 million self-employed workforce as part of its drive to tackle low pay and insecurity in the modern workforce, according to a new report published by the Resolution Foundation. The Minimum Required? – which forms part of the Resolution Foundation’s submission to
The post Minimum wage protection should be extended to the self-employed appeared first on Small Business.
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Small-Business Owners Are Split on the Federal Minimum Wage Debate
by Bob House • • 0 Comments
Many business owners polled favor a higher minimum wage because it means customers with more money to spend.
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Why businesses are not paying staff the national minimum wage
by Owen Gough • • 0 Comments
Ten of the most bizarre excuses used by unscrupulous bosses found to have underpaid workers the National Minimum Wage have today been revealed by the government. Excuses for not paying staff the minimum wage include only wanting to pay staff when there are customers to serve and believing it was acceptable to underpay workers until
The post Why businesses are not paying staff the national minimum wage appeared first on Small Business.
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The Small-Business Guide to Managing Minimum Wage Increases
by Stephen Sheinbaum • • 0 Comments
All politics aside, changes in the minimum wage have effects on all businesses, large and small, whether you voted for them or not. Get out ahead of policy and start a comprehensive analysis of your company now.