Summary of the editorial from IDS Pay Report 991, December 2007

More employers in retail pay ahead of the NMW

The National Minimum Wage (NMW) appears to be having less of an impact on employers than it has done in previous years. The lower increase in the minimum wage in 2007 has provided many retailers in particular with an opportunity to pay rates above the statutory level of £5.52 an hour, and most no longer use this rate as the minimum. Despite this, the minimum wage continues to have an indirect effect on pay structures including the gaps between starter and established rates of pay, which have been gradually narrowing. The NMW also continues to have a more significant impact for organisations in the fast food and hospitality sectors, who continue to use the minimum wage for starter rates. Here we examine some of these effects and look at what the level of the NMW might be in October 2008

... the full editorial can be read in IDS Pay Report 991