THE IMPACT OF THE INTRODUCTION OF THE NATIONAL LIVING WAGE: A STUDY OF CHANGES IN PAY SETTLEMENTS, PAY STRUCTURES AND AGE-RELATED PAY

The aim of this study is to investigate the impact of the announcement of the National Living Wage and its subsequent introduction. It has several aspects: a. to investigate whether the announcement in July 2015 (and introduction in April 2016) has any impact on pay awards; b. to investigate whether pay structures had been altered in any way to take account of any squeeze on differentials (that is, the pay of other staff higher up the earnings distribution); c. to assess whether firms were paying 21-24 year olds the NLW or if they had introduced a new 21-24 year old rate; d. to investigate whether wage premia (such as overtime and unsocial hours payments) and non-wage costs (such as annual leave and pension contributions) had been affected; e. to investigate whether there was any initial evidence (anecdotal or otherwise) that firms were substituting their older workforces with cheaper, younger workers; and f. to assess whether any of these effects identified varied by sector, size of firm or region.