Minimum wage to rise by 15p

Business secretary Vince Cable says increase to £6.08 an hour ‘reflects economic uncertainty’ The national minimum wage is to increase by 15p an hour to £6.08 in October, benefiting almost a million workers, the government has announced. Ministers said they had accepted recommendations from the Low Pay Commission , giving a new adult rate of £6.08, while the statutory minimum for 18- to 20-year-olds will increase by 6p to £4.98 an hour. The rate for 16- to 17-year-olds will increase by 4p to £3.68 an hour and the rate for apprentices will increase by 10p to £2.60 an hour. Vince Cable, the business secretary, said: “More than 890,000 of Britain’s lowest-paid workers will gain from these changes. They are appropriate, reflecting the current economic uncertainty, while at the same time protecting the UK’s lowest-paid workers. “I would like to thank the Low Pay Commission for doing a good job in difficult circumstances.” The commission’s chairman, David Norgrove, said: “We welcome the government’s acceptance of our recommendations. The commission was again unanimous, despite all the economic uncertainties. “We believe we have struck the right balance between the needs of low-paid workers and the challenges faced by businesses.” Pay Work & careers Vince Cable guardian.co.uk

Posted by on April 7, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.