rates of pay...

[emalou90]

im 19, ive been working since i was 16

obviously when i was 16 the rate of pay was £5. something, then the government changed it to £5.73 (roughly)

so i got that until now, ive just started a new job and found out the rate of pay is £4.77!!!!!

whats gone on? is this legal?

i've heard it is

so not good.

can anyone shed some light?

x

 

[krissie1234uk]

Until you are 22 you are not entitled to the full minimum wage. It's something called a developement rate I think, which is £4.77. Bit rubbish but perfectly legal I'm afraid. Your old work must just have paid the normal minimum wage as standard, regardless of age.

 

[kit603]

Definitely legal.

As of October 2008, the National Minimum wage for the UK is as follows:

£5.73 per hour if you're aged 22 or over
£4.77 per hour if you're aged 18 to 21 inclusive
£3.53 per hour if you're under the age of 18, but no longer of compulsory school age

These figures should go up in October 2009!

You can find more information at: https://www.hmrc.gov.uk/nmw/

Employers can choose to pay employees more than the minimum wage (which is what your previous employer must have done). However, that is completely at their discretion and so long as they pay you the figures above (according to your age) then it is perfectly legal.

 

[kayleigh&bump]

thats ridiculous!! How can they expect anyone to survive on that?!?!

 

[Dream.A.Dream]

Yup, unfortunately the full rate of minimum wage only applies once you're over 22. xx

 

[krissie1234uk]

It's ridiculous I know, how do they decide that younger people deserve less for doing the same job as someone else!? Surely that's age discrimination? But what can we do. Just hold out til we're 22 I guess.

 

[emalou90]

i agree with you krissie.
its absolutely rediculous.

when i didnt have a job they wouldnt give me any jobseekers either because my oh works 37 hours a week.
but his wage only just covers our mortgage and bills, let alone pay for ANY food.

when i had a job (before i moved) i paid for all the groceries and also gave OH £250 torwards whatever he needed it for, mortgage, bills or petrol.

now i cant pay for anything, but i suppose £4.77 is better than nothing... but i'd much rather have more

 

[kit603]

It really is ridiculous. I've just turned 19 (a couple of weeks ago) and my expenses are no lower than those of somebody over the age of 22 - I have my my own place, my own car etc and i've been working for 3 years and for the first 2 years I wasn't entitled to any more than £3.80 an hour whilst people doing the same job as me were getting at least £5+. Definitely not fair - especially when i'm still expected to pay the same taxes and have to pay just as much in bills.

Its the same with working tax credit... I can't apply just because i'm not old enough and neither is my partner. Ridiculous!

 

[emalou90]

the government moans about ae discrimination for older people

WHAT ABOUT YOUNG PEOPLE

 

[kit603]

Exactly, I don't see why we need to be paid less for doing exactly the same jobs