A team from Massey Business School are investigating employer views and experiences of the living wage and would love to hear from you.

“In partnership with Business North Harbour, we are planning to hold one or two focus groups in August consisting of 6-8 local firms from a range of sectors and size. This will also help us develop a survey later in the year.

The meetings will last for about an hour and be held at the Business North Harbour meeting room – date and time to be confirmed once we have an idea of interest and numbers. We would like to discuss issues such as

• the current business context – what have been or will be the implications for pay, hours, jobs in the new Covid environment
• how employers determine pay rates and systems
• views and implications of the accelerating Minimum Wage
• views of the LW including drivers or constraints in considering it, anticipated positive or negative effects if adopted.”

Context:

The Minimum Wage (MW) increased by 20% over the past three years and is closing on the ‘Living Wage’ (LW) rate as calculated by the Living Wage Movement.

An increasing number of firms, big and small, have chosen to become Living Wage employers for various reasons – recruitment and retention, branding, or simply feeling it is the right thing to do given rising living costs.

On the other hand, many firms are struggling to cope with the impact of the rising MW alongside other increases in business costs and of course the impact of COVID.

For more information, or to register indicative interest in participating in the focus groups, please drop a line to Professor Jim Arrowsmith, School of Management, Massey Business School, Albany:

Email: j.arrowsmith@massey.ac.nz

Phone: 09 213 6390

Many thanks from Jim and the team!