Relief for health sector employers over minimum wage

19th March 2014

Health care businesses in the Sheffield region are welcoming the proposed National Minimum Wage increase because it will not hit their wages bill as much as they feared, a specialist in the sector said today.

The Low Pay Commission, the body which advises the Government, is recommending that the adult rate goes up by three per cent from October 1 this year, made possible by the recovering economy. Scott Sanderson, health care sector manager for Sheffield-based independent chartered accountants and business advisers Hawsons, of Glossop Road, added: -Some businesses were expecting a 50p per hour increase and not the 19p which is being recommended. The news will come as a huge relief for those companies who are operating on tight budgets. -As well as affecting recruitment, rising wage bill costs can have an adverse impact on business growth but I think most businesses in the health field will feel that the Low Pay Commission's proposals, which are normally accepted by the Government, are a fair balance between meeting the needs of low paid workers and the challenges facing employers in the sector.