Employers who pay below the minimum wage will face automatic fines of £5,000 from next April, the Government announced last week. This month the NMW rose from £5.52 an hour to £5.73 for adult workers, from £4.60 to £4.77 for 18- to 22-year-olds, and from £3.40 to £3.53 for 16- and 17-year-olds. Dave Prentis, Unison general secretary, said, 'The rise to £5.73 is a welcome cushion. However, with the price of essentials such as food, gas and electricity going up massively, it won't lift enough working people out of the poverty trap. A more realistic figure would be £6.75.'