Hello, as our hourly paid employees will be receiving a pay increase this April with the minimum wage increase (we traditionally track above this). There are concerns this puts some of our hourly employees above our salaries.
I would be grateful for any feedback or insight into what others may be planning to do such as a % increase, and if this covers all positions equally?
For context we are a hospitality company made up of part time and full time hourly employees and the majority of senior positions on salary bandings
If the hourly-paid employees are performing a role manifestly different to the salaried employees which demands a certain minimum level of compensation, what does it matter whether their hourly rate is technically higher or lower than yours? Perhaps it is reasonable that, given that their work is unpredictable and their subsistence, therefore, less reliable, they be compensated in a way that recognizes that fact.
*That said*, if you aren't yourselves getting any kind of Cost of Living increase in pay, you should always be ready to ask why not and, if you don't like the answer, find somewhere else to work.
Universal annual pay rises aren't a right (excepting collective agreements negotiated with unions, obvs), and private sector employers will tend to focus their efforts where there will be the most pay-off (or where there's the most risk). I'm guessing that your employer is sensitive to the NLW rise because falling below it could cost them dearly in both reputation and financial penalties, and hourly-rate workers are where those risks are most exposed. Staying a fixed %age above that line is a simple measure to ensure you never accidentally stray below it.
But if salaried workers' wages are now closer to the same line than zero hours workers are, the risk is even greater because, assuming you don't get paid overtime, the risk of falling below NLW is very great.
It's worth pointing this out in general terms.
But, at the end of the day, if an employer doesn't pay you what you think your labour is worth, there hasn't been a better time in years to tell them to stick it and find something better.
