Post by jman on Sept 17, 2011 15:05:54 GMT 1
While the BBC and the Chancellor seem obsessed with the 50p rate under the radar comes a threat reported by the Mirror to the National Minimum Wage
"The Department for Business has asked the Low Pay Commission to see if it could be “removed or simplified” in certain areas.
The bombshell was placed on the department’s website without any press release.
The commission, which sets minimum wage levels, has been asked to “consider whether regulations can be made even simpler and easier to administer. This might include removal, simplification or consolidation”.
The Government also wants the commission to look at how much firms have to pay, particularly to young people, and make recommendations for October 2012.”
The document raises fears that the Government is looking to axe the minimum wage for 16-20 year olds by claiming it may be harming their job prospects.
The document, signed off by the Lib Dem Minister for Employment Ed Davey, also signals that the Government may want to strip apprentices of the minimum wage.
Shadow business minister Gareth Thomas said: “This Tory-led Government clearly wants the Low Pay Commission to generate the evidence to help them weaken the national minimum wage.”
Gareth Thomas
An aide at the Department for Business denied they were seeking to remove the minimum wage. She added: “It is a badly-drafted document. There is no intention of removing the minimum wage.”
“We have absolutely no plans to remove the 16-17 age rate for the minimum wage.”
Unite general secretary Len McCluskey said: “This Government is morally bankrupt. It wants to rob the poor and pay the rich. To consider cutting the minimum wage is outrageous.”
Len McCluskey
A spokesman for the Department for Business said: “The Government is fundamentally committed to the minimum wage.”
www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/2011/09/17/government-plotting-to-strip-some-workers-of-the-minimum-wage-115875-23425973/
"The Department for Business has asked the Low Pay Commission to see if it could be “removed or simplified” in certain areas.
The bombshell was placed on the department’s website without any press release.
The commission, which sets minimum wage levels, has been asked to “consider whether regulations can be made even simpler and easier to administer. This might include removal, simplification or consolidation”.
The Government also wants the commission to look at how much firms have to pay, particularly to young people, and make recommendations for October 2012.”
The document raises fears that the Government is looking to axe the minimum wage for 16-20 year olds by claiming it may be harming their job prospects.
The document, signed off by the Lib Dem Minister for Employment Ed Davey, also signals that the Government may want to strip apprentices of the minimum wage.
Shadow business minister Gareth Thomas said: “This Tory-led Government clearly wants the Low Pay Commission to generate the evidence to help them weaken the national minimum wage.”
Gareth Thomas
An aide at the Department for Business denied they were seeking to remove the minimum wage. She added: “It is a badly-drafted document. There is no intention of removing the minimum wage.”
“We have absolutely no plans to remove the 16-17 age rate for the minimum wage.”
Unite general secretary Len McCluskey said: “This Government is morally bankrupt. It wants to rob the poor and pay the rich. To consider cutting the minimum wage is outrageous.”
Len McCluskey
A spokesman for the Department for Business said: “The Government is fundamentally committed to the minimum wage.”
www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/2011/09/17/government-plotting-to-strip-some-workers-of-the-minimum-wage-115875-23425973/