National Minimum Wage

National Minimum Wage
23 The research did however highlight several issues where future workers might have reduced
terms and conditions compared with existing workers. First, the agricultural minimum wage
is paid from age 16 and young workers in future may be paid at rates lower than previously.
Second, new apprentices may also receive lower wage rates than those of existing
apprentices. Third, under the AWBEW, school-age children are entitled to a minimum wage
but when the NMW framework applies to agriculture they will be exempt from the minimum
wage. Fourth, the NMW does not include entitlements such as annual leave, sick pay, bad
weather payments and a dog allowance, which may affect new workers. Fifth, the
accommodation offset is the same under both the AWBEW and NMW (currently equivalent
to £33.11 a week) except for those living in tied cottages, where the maximum offset is just
£1.50 a week. In future, workers in such employer-provided accommodation may have to pay
higher rents than they would currently.
24 Our research programme for the 2012 Report has added to the existing literature on the
impacts of the NMW. Taking all of this knowledge collectively, we again conclude that, on
balance, the research generally finds little or no adverse impact of the minimum wage on
employment. However, some further evidence has been gathered this year to suggest that
the minimum wage may have led to a modest reduction in hours but this finding is still not
consistently robust across time and datasets to be definitive. Against the backdrop of the
main body of research finding no negative effects on employment, there has been more
evidence than previously that there may have been an adverse impact on employment of
certain groups in particular periods. These adverse findings, however, are not robust, being
confined to particular workers (young workers or female part-time workers) in particular time
periods using certain datasets and model specifications. The research found little evidence of
an adverse effect of the introduction of the Apprentice Rate on the provision of
apprenticeships by employers.
164