• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

MayorWatch

London News and Comment

  • NEWS
  • Twitter

City Hall Tories call for minimum wage holiday for smallest firms

June 12, 2013 - Martin Hoscik@MayorWatch

Tony Arbour is London Assembly Member for the South West constituency.
Tony Arbour is London Assembly Member for the South West constituency.
Companies with fewer than 10 employees should be given a ‘holiday’ from the minimum wage, according to Conservative London Assembly Member Tony Arbour.

Mr Arbour will use a meeting of the Assembly’s Economy Committee to call for London’s small and micro-businesses to be given a short minimum wage
exemption of up to six months in an effort to boost employment and growth.

He says the minimum wage “can act as an inhibitor for small and micro businesses and prevent them from taking the necessary risks to succeed.”

The national minimum wage will rise by 1.8 per cent in October, 50 per cent higher than average wage growth. For adults aged 21 and over the minimum wage will rise from £6.19 per hour to £6.31.

Business leaders including the Federation of Small Businesses, the IEA and the British Chambers of Commerce have questioned the size of the increase.

Speaking ahead of today’s meeting, Mr Arbour said: “A  time of high unemployment, is not the right time to be pricing out those at the margins of the labour market.

“I think it is important to now consider the idea of a minimum wage holiday for micro businesses and start up companies who employ fewer than 10 members of staff. This will encourage these small enterprises to take on new workers.”

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)

RECENT UPDATES

Tube and rail users to benefit from Oyster weekly fares cap

Mayor and TfL call on ministers to help plug funding gap

Tube to get full mobile phone coverage from 2024

TfL says Direct Vision Standard is already making HGVs safer for London road users




POPULAR

City Hall to move to Docklands as Mayor seeks to raise £55m for frontline services

‘Concern’ over TfL’s ability to deliver major projects in wake of Crossrail cost overruns

City Hall halts London Overground ticket office closures but many will still see opening hours reduced

Transport for London confirms bus cuts will go ahead despite passenger opposition

GOT A STORY?

As the original London news and scrutiny site we've been casting an eye over the capital's public services and politicians since 1999.

 

Many of our top stories started with a tip-off from a reader - if you've got something you'd like us to cover get in touch and we'll do the rest.

Stay In Touch

  • E-mail
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Copyright © 2022 · Terms of Use · Privacy Policy