Our findings
We discovered that the introduction of the NLW in April 2016 did cause a reduction in the retention of part-time employees, whether male or female. We found little evidence that the NLW upratings in 2017 and 2018 made any difference to levels of retention for employees, whether male or female, or part-time or full-time. appeared to have myanmar rcs data improved employee retention for women working part-time in the private sector, compared with the public sector. Alongside this, we uncovered evidence that the 2018 uprating also had a positive impact on employment retention for part-time male employees in larger firms (50 employees plus), whereas this was not the case in smaller firms.
We found little evidence that the introduction and uprating of the NLW affected working hours. Our analysis of the LFS showed that the 2017 uprating of the NLW did result in men working full-time on temporary contracts experiencing an increase in working hours relative to those on permanent contracts, but this was not evident in our analysis of the ASHE. Otherwise, we did not find evidence that the working hours of those with other characteristics were affected in terms of working hours.
Our analysis shows that while upratings of the NLW have had limited impact on employment retention and working hours, the initial introduction of the NLW reduced employment retention for part-time workers. This was most clearly the case for women who worked part-time. The increase in the minimum wage (for those aged 25 and above) was unprecedented in magnitude – 7.5% higher than the minimum wage set in October 2015 and 10.8% higher than the level a year earlier (April 2015). Therefore, our analysis suggests caution around future rises of a similar size.