RGDATA calls for an immediate moratorium on Government imposed costs.<\/p>\n
\u201cGovernment imposed costs are the biggest single threat to the viability of local shops,\u201d says Tara Buckley, Director General RGDATA.<\/p>\n
RGDATA, the representative association for over 3,000 local shops, convenience stores and
\nsupermarkets nationwide, has warned that a raft of Government imposed cost increases
\nrepresents the single biggest threat to the viability of local shops to continue trading through
\ncurrent difficult conditions.<\/p>\n
The RGDATA warning comes following reports that the Low Pay Commission is proposing a
\n12.4% increase in the National Minimum Wage \u2013 RGDATA estimate that this will increase
\nthe gross wage bill for an employee on the NMW by over \u20ac3,000 per annum and will also
\nincrease the wage costs for all other employees on higher rates who expect increases on
\nparity with the NMW.<\/p>\n
This increased cost would be on top of the additional costs associated with;
\n\u2022 The new St Brigid\u2019s Day Bank Holiday (\u20ac110)
\n\u2022 The contingent costs of statutory sick pay (\u20ac550)
\n\u2022 Pension Auto Enrolment (\u20ac386)<\/p>\n
Collectively these costs amount to an additional \u20ac4,000 per employee in labour costs that
\nemployers will need to find, just to keep apace of new legal labour obligations being
\nintroduced by the Government. These additional costs are not sustainable at a time when
\nshops are facing considerable competitive, compliance and inflationary pressures and are
\nstriving to keep food costs down for their customers.<\/p>\n
RGDATA Director General Tara Buckley said \u201cThis is not about employers being Grinches but about recognising that local food shops are not high margin businesses and operate in extremely challenging environments.<\/p>\n
“Business owners cannot just magic an extra \u20ac4,000 per annum per employee from thin air \u2013 this is money that will have to be found through getting more customers, charging higher prices, reducing employee hours or cutting costs. And these increased costs are coming at a time when retailers are already facing a plethora of additional compliance costs associated with bring back schemes, the circular economy and enhanced reporting obligations.<\/p>\n
\u201cGovernment needs to get real and recognise that retail businesses do not have an endless capacity to absorb higher costs directly imposed by the State. Government cannot continue to impose higher costs on convenience retailers and expect the price of food to drop. There needs to be a moratorium on additional State imposed costs now and RGDATA will be urgently seeking a Government commitment in this regard from the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
RGDATA calls for an immediate moratorium on Government imposed costs. \u201cGovernment imposed costs are the biggest single threat to the viability of local shops,\u201d says<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":22556,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[308],"yoast_head":"\n