Remuneration practices in the UK hospitality industry in the age of the national minimum wage

Abstract

This article examines why the introduction of the National Minimum Wage has been less disruptive in hospitality than had been anticipated. It shows that in hospitality establishments pay rates are not the outcome of managerial decision making alone, but are influenced by broader economic and social processes. Furthermore, key aspects of the ‘total reward system’ held to exist in hospitality, the provision of live-in accommodation for workers and the practice of tipping, on which there are specific National Minimum Wage regulations, are generally not treated as remuneration. This highlights the need for a reconsideration of how remuneration practices in hospitality operate.