Another huge wage increase is expected to destabilize the struggling sector of small businesses in the face of federal budget warnings of a patchwork economy. This shall be the argument of the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry or ACCI in the succeeding national wage trials this week.

Starting today ACCI will express that the $26 a week wage increase last year had tremendously hurt small businesses' profitability and cash flow. This in turn affected the employees with reduced working hours and limited opportunities for casuals.

According to ACCI chief executive Peter Martin, last year's rise "is no starting point for this year's case".

"Not only does the evidence show it damaged employers and employees in small business, but it came on the back of an 18 month wage pause during the global financial crisis. This year the opposite applies - the ink hardly being dry on a record increase that is still flowing through payrolls," Martin said.

Today, ACCI will submit to Fair Work Australia today a proposal entailing a $9.50 minimum wage increase. The said proposal shall hold some exceptions or rearrangements for disaster-hit regions and underperforming industries.

Martin expressed that ACTU's offer would "add $3.6 million to the wages bill of struggling small and medium businesses".

Presently, about 50,000 Australians are living on the minimum wage; however, the earnings of an additional 1.3 million workers are affected by the minimum wage level.