Nhf condemns national living wage announcement

The National Hairdressers’ Federation has condemned the announcement by Chancellor George Osborne of a National Minimum Living Wage, as part of the Summer Budget. The Living Wage, which starts at £7.20 next April and rises to £9 an hour by 2020, will be compulsory and replaces the minimum wage which is now £6.50. Said NHF president Paul Curry: “Introducing a compulsory increase in wages for the over 25s is a disappointing decision. Hairdressing is an unusual industry in that salons generally are small businesses but highly labour intensive. They rely on having enough staff on the salon floor to provide the best experience possible to clients. “To that end, hairdressing salons, barbershops and beauty salons will be hit disproportionately hard by this enforced increase. In effect, with the National Minimum Wage also going up this from October, salons will be having to cope with two sharp increases in wages within a matter of months.” Paul said that he hoped the raising of the Employment Allowance announced by the chancellor would help to offset some of the impact of this rise, but feared the burden of new National Living Wage would mean many salons would be forced to reduce hours or cut jobs, and be less likely to invest in apprentices. “For some salons I fear it might mean they have to take a long hard look as to whether they can even afford to continue on in business,” he added. “The chancellor’s decision may have been made with the best of intentions, but it has the potential to cause real damage to our industry.”