The National Minimum Wage is to rise to £6.50 per hour following the government’s acceptance of the Low Pay Commission’s recommendations for 2014.
The rise will take effect from October 2014 and will see pay rises of up to £355 a year for more than one million people. Research from Unison last year suggests 28,000 local government workers earn £6.30 per hour.
Business secretary, Vince Cable, said: ‘The recommendations I have accepted today (12 March 2014) mean that low paid workers will enjoy the biggest cash increase in their take home pay since 2008. This will benefit over one million workers on National Minimum Wage and marks the start of a welcome new phase in minimum wage policy.
‘The independent Low Pay Commission plays a crucial role in advising the government about the minimum wage. This is why I asked them to look at how we could restore the real value of the National Minimum Wage as the economy recovers.’
The Commission also recommends bigger rises in the future if economic conditions continue to improve.
Chair of the Low Pay Commission, David Norgrove said: ‘Provided the economy continues to improve we expect to recommend further progressive real increases in the minimum wage, so that 2014 will mark the start of a new phase – of bigger increases than in recent years – in the work of the Low Pay Commission.
‘The labour market position of young people has yet to improve to match that of adults, although it now appears to have stabilised. We have recommended increases of 2 per cent in their rates, which should broadly protect their real value while increasing the relative attractiveness of young people to employers. We believe that youth rates should rise by more than adult rates when economic circumstances permit.’
The National Minimum Wage rates will be:
- a 19p increase in the adult rate (from £6.31 to £6.50 per hour)
- a 10p increase in the rate for 18 to 20 year olds (from £5.03 to £5.13 per hour)
- a 7p increase in the rate for 16 to 17 year olds (from £3.72 to £3.79 per hour)
- a 5p increase in the rate for apprentices (from £2.68 to £2.73 per hour)
