Call for wages formula.

FIRMS in Yorkshire have backed calls for a new formula to decide future rises in the national minimum wage.

Manufacturers' body the EEF said companies needed "some form of certainty" about its potential impact.

Regional director Alan Hall said that most EEF member firms paid well above the national minimum wage.

But they were concerned about the impact that future rises will have on the costs of many of the outsourced services that they use.

In a submission to the Low Pay Commission, the EEF said the national minimum wage should be determined by a formula based on movements in basic rates of pay across the economy.

This would help manufacturers to plan for the direct and indirect impact of increases in the national minimum wage on their costs and allow them to make any necessary changes to their remuneration arrangements to maintain differentials.

Mr Hall said: "In these difficult economic times, it is even more important for manufacturers to have greater certainty about future increases in the national minimum wage and the potential direct and indirect impact on their business.

"Increases in line with basic rates of pay across the economy will help to achieve this objective and ensure that future increases in the NMW reflect the economic circumstances of the time."