Welcome back to Voting: Part 2, where today I'll be compiling the policies on the Minimum Wage, Living Wage and Zero-Hours Contracts. This affects us because even with a degree these days there's certainly no guarantee of a job. Therefore, when we do go into the workplace, a wage on which we can survive and contracts upon which we can rely are of paramount importance.
The definition as given by the Living Wage Foundation is as follows:
An hourly rate set independently and updated annually, the Living Wage is calculated according to the basic cost of living
There is a significant difference between the Living Wage for employees in London, where it is £9.15 an hour, and in the rest of the UK, where it is £7.85.
However, the above figures are not what most of us are paid in our day to day jobs. Instead, we are paid the Minimum Wage.
Currently, the Minimum Wage for 18-21 year olds, as I recently found out from my job interview at Primark, is something like £6.35 an hour. I say "something like" because I can't actually find an updated set of data on the Minimum Wage for 18-21. The only one I can find was last updated on the 1st of October 2014, as being £5.13 an hour but I don't think this is correct. (If someone can find the correct one can they post it as a comment please xx).
There is a major problem with the Living Wage and it's this: one simply can't live on it.
For example, if someone living outside of London works in a full-time capacity, 40 hours a week, for every single week of the year at the Living Wage salary, they would make £16,328.
Now onto Zero-Hours Contracts. A description for this, as given by ACAS, is:
Zero-hours contracts normally mean there is no obligation for employers to offer work, or for workers to accept it.
Most zero hours contracts will give staff 'worker' employment status.
What this mean in terms of working is that, on a day-to-day basis someone on a zero hours contract has absolutely no guarantee of working. And this applies to the entire week! You may not be given any work for a week, but many companies make you agree to an exclusivity deal, meaning you can only hold a job with them.
This is a difficult situation for anyone to be in, but a significant number of students who work are on zero hours contracts. As a result, it has become a relatively big issue in this election, with Ed Miliband publicly slamming them.
REMEMBER: this is a particularly tricky issue that is tied into a great many areas of the election such as Welfare, Immigration and Health. You must consider carefully whether the policies are realistic economically. It is all very well voting for the highest Minimum/Living Wage, but if it is afforded by a hike in taxes, it's no good for any of us. So no matter how "stingy" the policy may seem, don't dismiss it out of hand.
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Right so first up is the Conservatives:
- Minimum Wage: the Conservatives "accept the recommendations of the Low Pay Commission that the National Minimum Wage should rise to £6.70 this autumn" but their ultimate aim is for a Minimum Wage that will be over £8 by the end of the decade. They are also raising tax-free budgets, which is significant because it means that for those of us on Minimum Wage we won't have to pay as much of our earnings back as tax.
- They will take further steps to "eradicate abuses of workers, such as non-payment of the Minimum Wage".
- Living Wage: they support it and will encourage businesses and other organisations to pay it whenever they can afford it.
- Zero-hours Contracts: they will also take further steps to eradicate exclusivity in zero-hours contracts.
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Labour Party:
- Minimum Wage: they will raise minimum wage to more than £8 an hour by October 2019.
- Living Wage: - they have nothing to say on the Living Wage.
- Zero-hours Contracts: according to the creepy website where I enter my name and then they put a title that says "A Manifesto for Phyllida and Britain", there are 70,000 people on zero-hours contracts in the Eastern Region of the UK. They will ban "exploitative zero-hours contracts, so that anyone working regular hours for 12 weeks or more will get a regular contract".
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Lib Dems:
- Minimum Wage: "ask the Low Pay Commission to look at ways of raising the National Minimum Wage, without damaging employment opportunities". "Review unpaid internships".
- Living Wage: "Establish an independent review to consult on how to set a fair Living Wage across all sectors".
- Zero-hours Contracts: stamp out abuse of zero hours contracts. They will create "a formal right to request a fixed contract and consult on introducing a right to make regular patterns row rom contractual after a period of time".
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UKIP:
- Minimum Wage: UKIP will raise the personal allowance to at least £13,000. This is significant because it means that for those of on Minimum Wage, we won't have to pay tax on our earnings altogether. Though it doesn't look as those UKIP will raise minimum wage.
- Living Wage:
- Zero-hours Contracts:
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Green:
- Minimum Wage: the most generous of all the parties: £10 an hour by 2020.
- Living Wage: The minimum wage will become a "genuine living wage by 2020" at £10 an hour.
- Zero-hours Contracts: "businesses hiring 50 people or more must give workers on zero-hours contracts either a full or part-time secure contract after one year if the workers involved request it.
- Ban on exclusivity clauses in any zero-hours contract.
- "Workers on zero-hours contracts must be given at least twelve hours advance notice of work. Once notice has been given they must be paid for the work regardless of whether or not they are actually needed. Employers will not be permitted to expect a worker to turn up for work, only to be turned away again, where no work is available".
- Not only this, but UKIP will "not allow the NHS or third parties under contract to employ home care workers on zero hour contracts of any kind".
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SNP:
- Minimum Wage: vote to increase Minimum Wage to £8.70 by 2020.
- Living Wage: support measure to extend the Living Wage across the UK*.
- Zero-hours Contracts: "support tough action to end exploitative zero hours contracts".
*NB: "Scotland, according to the manifesto, already pay the Living Wage to all of its own employees and to those covered by tis pay policy". They will encourage the UK to do the same.
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Plaid Cymru:
- Minimum Wage: Plaid Cymru will "increase the Minimum Wage to be the same as the Living Wage over the next Parliament".
- Living Wage: see Minimum Wage.
- Zero-hours Contracts: "end exploitative zero hours contracts the tie workers to a company while not giving them a guaranteed weekly income."
If you want the links to the full manifestos see my post above, Voting #1, and as ever do comment below if you want to ask/add/correct something.
See you tomorrow for Voting #3: Housing!
Lots of love,
Philly
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