Ms Patricia Callan:

Exactly. The minimum wage is a floor, so it is a legal instrument. We are not talking about labour market dynamics in terms of the normal market pay rate. Obviously, that is critically important and does occur. I can clearly stand over our member companies and say that those making a profit are giving pay increases, but they are doing so on that person's personal contribution to the business, rather than in the sense that everyone should automatically get a pay rise. That is good and efficient in terms of introducing detailed performance management systems and metrics.

In most small companies people are a lot closer to their employees. They are their friends and relatives who live in the same town. This is not a them-and-us scenario at all.