Fair play should mean fair pay - Minimum wage

The Low Pay Commission is expected to recommend an increase of 50 cent an hour to the minimum wage when it reports to the Government tomorrow.

An estimated 100,000 workers receive the minimum wage rate, which currently stands at €8.65 an hour. The increase would bring the minimum wage to €9.15 an hour.

Predictably, employer groups are objecting to the proposed increase, saying it will erode economic competitiveness and lead to job losses. Ibec, the business and employers’ organisation, said its main concern was the “knock-on impact on wage expectations of other employees”.