Labour on Living Wage Call

Labour on Living Wage Call.  

Labour leader Ed Milliband has backed a plan to promote the "living wage".  This is not the legal minimum wage but is a benchmark wage that employees should be able to support themselves without the need for benefits.

Milliband suggests that larger employers should be named and shamed if they have not publicly committed to paying all staff at least the living wage.

Many local authorities and public sector employers are already committing to the living wage.  The suggested minimum living wage is £7.20 per hour outside London and £8.30 per hour in London. 

Our view

It is all so very easy when youdo not have pay the wages yourself i.e.  when it is tax payers money.  We are a small employer and yes, with minimum rates of pay above the living wage plus pensions plus bonuses, we are happy to confirm we meet the living wage criteria.  However, it is not about having an employer conscience it is about our employees delivering value.  If any employer has employees that quite frankly are not qualified or they require flexible or part time work or other needs, if they do not create value then it is difficult to justify between £250 and £300 per week.

We beleive with both sides of the Houses of Parliament pushing the "living wage", this is more about driving wages uptoo drive prices up and inflation up, indirectly devaluing the huge public sector debt position wthout ever epayying it.