Wages of min

It’s official – the minimum wage will go up as of October, reports the BBC. And although they haven’t put anything on their website yet, the Federation of Small Business has circulated its approval to all the journalists it knows. At least, their argument runs, the amount is in line with inflation.

A scan of the newspaper websites suggests this isn’t going to make much of an impression – nobody’s writing a great deal about it. What concerns me is the amount of people still falling below the minimum rate, though. I know of one businessman on an Internet forum who boasts openly that he pays his labourers in cash, and that they never complain about the low amount. Well, if you’re desperate to accept it I suppose you wouldn’t do any boat-rocking, would you.

The thing is, I’ve only seen one story about someone flouting the minimum wage rules. There could be more, lower-profile examples, but if so they’re well hidden. The laws would have more teeth if some people – particularly those openly boasting of ignoring the law – actually faced some consequences.

Meanwhile the smart money, says the Telegraph among others, says interest rates won’t be cut tomorrow. So, back to the doom and gloom this time next week,

Guy Clapperton is a freelance journalist who specialises in small business issues and has written for the likes of The Guardian, the FT and the Daily Mirror. Guy has written about finance and franchising for SmallBizPod. http://www.guyclapperton.co.uk