Angela Shaw, employment solicitor at Massers is advising businesses not to dodge paying the 3.8 per cent increase.

"At a time when pay restraint is a major consideration for keeping costs down, businesses have a legal obligation to pay the new minimum wage rate."

"From an employee's point of view the rise will be welcomed.  For employers it will be another overhead to shoulder during difficult trading conditions."

Where the majority of the workforce is made up of minimum wage workers Angela Shaw is warning the rise may tip the balance for some businesses to shelve recruitment or even make redundancies.

"Some businesses may have to make redundancies especially where a large majority of the workforce is paid the minimum wage; they may even look abroad for cheaper labour.  I would advise that businesses need to be aware of their legal obligations" she said.

The rate for workers aged 16 and 17 will increase from £3.40 to £3.53 per hour.