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What I've Been Reading This Week: International Minimum Wage Edition


Shorter week in the office coming back from New York and handling a few matters out of town for work.  As a result, it was another week where I only had a few spare minutes to read through some articles.  I normally do not post much in the way of international developments in the labor and employment law field.  However, this week I came across some good articles on developments in the UK and Russia that I think warrant a special post.

As always, below are a few articles that caught my eye this week.


Rising Minimum Wage in the UK to Cost Over 1 Billion Pounds

Good article from Forbes on the predicted impact that the new minimum wage in the UK will have on businesses.  Chancellor George Osborne's decision to raise the minimum wage next year is predicted to cost private employers over 1 billion Pounds.  Note, these predicted costs include wages and non-wage labor costs (such as employers' National Insurance contributions).  Quite a steep cost for raising minimum wage rates, huh?



Beginning January 1, 2016, the minimum wage rate will increase to 6,204 rubles (the equivalent of about $87) in Russia.  Russian President Vladimir Putin recently authorized the 4% hike in minimum wage.  However, given the inflation rate in Russia that is predicted to be close to 15% next year, the hourly wage will have actually fallen by 7.5%...  


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