Tuesday 12 December 2017

Time for time and a half? Should overtime hours mean premium pay

Matthew Taylor’s government-commissioned Review of Modern Working Practices took a long look at the UK labour market and made many recommendations to raise the quality of work.

Central among these was a proposal for a higher minimum wage for non-guaranteed hours. This shone a light on a long-neglected part of UK employment policy – overtime. While the policy area has been ignored here, a wide variety of approaches are taken around the world to limit or provide a pay premium for overtime hours.

What impact would new overtime policies have in the UK? Would they curb the use of zero hour contracts, and give bigger pay rises to Britain’s lowest earners? Or would it jeopardise jobs and business models? Would focusing on an overtime minimum wage undermine a regime that’s already undergoing considerable change?

At an event at its Westminster headquarters, the Resolution Foundation presented the findings from a new report on the impact of a higher minimum wage premium for overtime in Britain. A panel of experts then debated what it might mean for workers and the wider world of work.