UK’s national living wage viewed as a success story

The annual report by the UK’s Low Pay Commission (LPC) shows that employers have tended to adapt to national living wage (NLW) increases by raising prices or accepting lower profits, rather than by reducing staff count or increasing productivity. Out-Law.com reports that the report also confirms the LPC's recommended increases to the NLW and the National Minimum Wage for younger workers for 2019 have been accepted by the government. The NLW was introduced in April 2016 and is due to increase so that it reaches 60% of median earnings by 2020, subject to sustained economic growth. Employment law expert Matt McDonald of Pinsent Masons is quoted in the report as saying that the NLW ‘is widely viewed as a success story’. ‘Concerns prior to its introduction that some businesses would be financially crippled by higher wage bills have, for the most part, not been realised,’ he said. ‘In fact, and as the LPC report notes, businesses have been forced to adapt, and have done so remarkably well.’