And it seems rather rich expecting pubs to display these mats, when increasing the minimum wage by well above the rate of inflation is one of a raft of measures that have sharply increased their costs with effect from the beginning to April. It comes alongside increasing the rate of employers’ national insurance, almost halving the threshold at which it begins to be payable and drastically cutting the discount on business rates.
Any employee feeling pleased with themselves for receiving an above-inflation pay rise may find that their hours have been reduced to compensate for it, while possibly seeing some of their colleagues let go because their employer can no longer afford to pay them.
On top of this, today it has been reported that there was a net loss of 109,000 jobs during May, added to 55,000 already lost in April, following the steep increase in employment costs. A large proportion of these job losses will have been in the hospitality sector. So it will not be surprising if any pubs receiving a pack of these mats regard it as a sick joke, and they end up in the recycling.
