The government has announced a rise in the national minimum wage rates with effect from 1 October 2013.
However, with inflation currently running at 2.8%, these ‘rises’ are effectively a further cut in the value of the national minimum wage.
The new rates will be:
- £6.31 per hour for those aged 21 and over (a 12p increase = or 1.9%)
- £5.03 per hour for those aged 18 – 20 years (a 5p increase = 1%)
- £3.72 per hour for those aged 16 – 17 (a 4p increase = 1%)
- £2.68 per hour for the apprentice rate (a 3p increase = 1%)
UNISON continues to press for an end to the discriminatory age rates, and for raising the minimum wage to a living wage level.