$7.25. Hmmm. Out of interest what typical jobs qualify for flat bottom minimum wage on that side of the pond?
I'm guessing its the same as over here - hamburger flippers, supermarket shelf stackers, fruit pickers, bar staff, cleaning staff and bottom rung child care assistants but am curious as to whether it is or not?
We have the minimum wage over here too (got it many years after you guys). I think it is going up to £5.35 which is about $9.30. Have to say I got upset when we brought it in, but I suppose looking back over the last few years it has made very little difference despite the fuss we made. Anyone whose business was close enough to the wire that they couldn't afford the extra pennies was already fleecing illegal immigrants anyway rather than locals, so no net change on employment over here can really be attributed to it.
Not sure about the UK, but many of the labor unions in the US have contracts that link wages for union members with the minimum wage, so employers who already pay substantially above minimum wage will be paying out additional monies as a result of this legislation....
The impact here tends to depend on whether or not the minimum has fallen so far behind actual wages that increasing it makes a difference to businesses. In the instant case, it'll have some impact, but the odds that it'll be significant are roughly the same as the odds that Chelsea will lose on any given Saturday.
But you misunderstand - the businesses that hire illegals _dont_ pay minimum wage, they pay less than minimum wage.
Besides, do you really want the gov'ment deciding whose busienss is 'close enough to the wire'? A penny here, a penny there, that's how you wind up with your cell phone bill being 37% taxes and how you wind up shutting down businesses.