Thaindian News

Oct 1 (THAINDIAN NEWS) There was good news in Britain today, as the national minimum wage increase went into effect, bringing the new sum up to £5.93, which is $9.38 in the United States. It is also the first time that the minimum wage increase will also effect employees who are under 22 year of age.

For sixteen and seventeen year old employees, their minimum wage will increase from £3.57 an hour to £3.64. Eighteen to twenty year olds will also see an increase, from £4.83 to £4.92 an hour, and there has also been a new minimum wage which was introduced for apprentices who are under nineteen years old, of £2.50 an hour.

The British Retail Consortium issued a warning with these raises, however. If the increase in minimum wage for next year is larger than 1.7%, then it could cause employers to cease hiring any new workers, and cause a halt in job creation. The government must therefore try to find the right balance between raises wages for the current workers, or trying to keep it low enough for new hires to exist.