Two minimum wage stories

A Sheffield butcher has become the first employer to be prosecuted for not paying the minimum wage to its employees - this BBC report covers the story - Jackson, from Pontefract, and Smout, from Sheffield, were charged with non payment of minimum wage and failing to keep adequate pay records. Reading between the lines, I was surprised to read that so few prosecutions have been brought forward since the NMW came into force in April 1999.

And today BBC London exposes the Hard Rock cafe for paying a basic wage of just £2.06 an hour in a story linked to the debate about whether restaurants are routinely using customer tips to supplement the wages of their workers.

The current minimum wage stands at £5.52 for workers over 22 years of age. If you worked 48 hours a week, that translates into £13,772 a year - a few weeks ago, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation published survey research which indicated that a single person in Britain today needs to earn at least £13,400 a year before tax to afford a basic but acceptable standard of living.