Minimum wages and pay policy in the British hospitality industry: past impact and future implications

This paper examines the impact of the removal of statutory minimum rates of pay in the hotel and catering industry. The past influence of the wages council as a statutory pay review mechanism on pay policy within the industry will be established. The main section of the paper then reports on the considerable changes that have occurred to the methods used for determining pay, changes to pay structures and addresses the implications that these changes may have for future rates of pay and the factors which affect the determination of pay for manual workers in the hotel and catering industry. This research represents the most comprehensive study yet carried out investigating the effect that wages council abolition has exerted on pay policy in the hotel and catering industry. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.