英國最低時薪增加至6.7英鎊
The national minimum wage will increase by 20p an hour to ?6.70 from October, the government has changes will benefit more than 1.4 million hourly rate for younger workers will also rise, and for apprentices it will go up by 20% to ?3.30 an hour.
英國政府宣佈，自十月份起，英國最低時薪將增加20便士，至6.7英鎊。此項改變將使140萬員工受益。年輕員工的小時工資率也會上漲。此外，學徒時薪會增加20%，升至3.30英鎊。
The rates were recommended by the Low Pay Commission but the government has gone further than the 7p an hour increase suggested for e Minister David Cameron said the across-the-board increases would offer "more financial security" to workers, and "a better future" for Britain。
低薪委員會建議將學徒時薪增加7便士，但是政府並未採納該建議，而是更進一步。首相戴維·卡梅倫表示全員等額提薪能爲員工提供“更多財政保障”，讓英國的“未來越來越好”。The 3% increase in the national minimum wage for adult workers is the biggest real-terms rise in seven years. It was recommended by the Low Pay Commission - the independent body that advises the government on the minimum wage。
低薪委員會是個獨立的機構，就最低薪水問題向政府提出了建議。根據該委員會建議，將成年工人最低薪水提高3%是7年來增長最多的一次。
The statutory minimum for 18 to 20-year-olds will also go up by 3% from October, from ?5.13 to ?5.30, and by 2% for 16 and 17-year-olds, taking the rate to ?3.87, as the LPC advised。
低薪委員會建議，自10月份起，將18到20歲年輕人的法定最低時薪提高3%，由5.13英鎊上升至5.30英鎊，16或17歲青少年的法定最低時薪提高2%，升至3.87英鎊。But the government has rejected the commission’s proposed 7p an hour increase in the apprenticeship rate, choosing instead to increase it by 57p an hour. The rate applies to apprentices aged 16 to 18 and those aged 19 or over who are in their first year. All other apprentices are entitled to the national minimum wage for their age。
但是政府拒絕了委員會有關提高學徒時薪的建議，選擇每小時增加57便士，而非委員會建議的7便士。該項比率適用於16至18週歲的學徒，以及首次步入工作崗位的19歲或19歲以上的年輕人。其他所有學徒都有權享受相應年齡段的最低薪水。Announcing the changes, Mr Cameron said: "At the heart of our long-term economic plan for Britain is a simple idea - that those who put in, should get out, that hard work is really rewarded, that the benefits of recovery are truly national。
卡梅倫宣佈這些變化時說道：“英國長期經濟發展計劃的核心就是有付出就會有收穫。努力工作會有所回報，全國所有人們都有權收益。”Labour has promised the minimum wage would rise rise to ?8 an hour over the course of the next parliament if it wins in May。
工黨表示若能在5月份勝出，將承諾將最低時薪提升至8英鎊。CBI director-general John Cridland said it was "positive" that the government had accepted the LPC’s recommendations on the adult and youth rates. But, he added, it was "disappointing" that worried by the "politicisation" of the commission。
英國工業聯合會理事長約翰·克里德蘭表示政府接受低薪委員會的建議，提升成年人和青少年工資，這是“具有積極影響的”。但是他又補充說道，擔心委員會“政治化”，這又非常“消極”。Frances O’Grady, the general secretary of the TUC, said the rate increases go "nowhere near enough to end in-work poverty"。
但是，英國勞工聯合會議祕書長弗朗西斯·奧格雷迪表示，要想消除“就業中貧困”，此項比率還遠遠不夠。
