29/12/2008 - Call to not raise minimum wage
The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) has called for the national minimum wage not to be increased in 2009 because of the looming recession.
The business group calculated that another increase in the minimum wage in 2009, in line with the 2008 rise, would cost firms £300 million. It has has written to the Low Pay Commission, which advises the Government on the statutory rate, saying it believed the wage should stay at the current levels of £5.73 an hour for adults, £4.77 for 18-to 21-year-olds and £3.53 for 16-and 17-year-olds.
The BCC warned that hard-pressed businesses would not be able to afford a wage increase in 2009, and that any increase in the minimum wage in 2009 risked adding to unemployment, which the BCC has already forecast will reach three million by 2010.
Director general David Frost, said: "We're not opposed to the minimum wage going up when employment is high and the economy is doing well, but when jobs are being lost daily and a recession is in full swing, it makes no sense to increase it."
Copyright © Press Association 2008
Related links
|
