Drawing on data generated from interviews with employers, managers and workers the article examines the reasons for the limited impact of the recently introduced National Minimum Wage (NMW) in the UK hospitality industry. Managerial control over the terms of the wage-work bargain, together with the significant influence of product and labour market pressures, has allowed the NMW to be introduced with little disruption. Contrary to expectations of a regulatory or labour market `shock', the introduction of the NMW appears to have reinforced, rather than challenged, existing employment relations arrangements in hospitality.
Bland, P. (1999) `Trade Union Membership and Recognition 1997-98: An Analysis of Data From the Certification Officer and the Labour Force Survey', Labour Market TrendsJuly: 343-353.
2.
Bradley, H. , Erickson, M., Stephenson, C. and Williams, S. (2000) Myths at Work. Cambridge: Polity.
3.
Brown, D. and Crossman, A. (2000) `Employer Strategies in the Face of a National Minimum Wage: An Analysis of the Hotel Sector', Industrial Relations Journal31(3): 206-219.
4.
Crompton, R. and Sanderson, K. (1990) Gendered Jobs and Social Change. London: Unwin Hyman.
5.
Cully, M. , Woodland, S., O'Reilly, A. and Dix, G. (1999) Britain at Work. London: Routledge.
6.
Edwards, P.K. and Gilman, M. (1999) `Pay Equity and the National Minimum Wage: What Can Theories Tell Us?', Human Resource Management Journal9(1): 20-38.
7.
Gabriel, Y. (1988) Working Lives in Catering. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
8.
Gilman, M. , Edwards, P.K., Ram, M. and Arrowsmith, J. (2002) `Pay Determination in Small Firms in the UK: The Case of the Response to the National Minimum Wage', Industrial Relations Journal33(1): 52-67.
9.
Goss, D. and Adam-Smith, D. (2001) `Pragmatism and Compliance: Employer Responses to the Working Time Regulations', Industrial Relations Journal32(3): 195-208.
10.
Hospitality Training Federation (HTF) (2000) Labour Market Review 2000. London: Hospitality Training Federation.
11.
Incomes Data Services (IDS) (2000) IDS Report, 822, December.
12.
Incomes Data Services (IDS) (2001) IDS Report, 825, January.
13.
Low Pay Commission (LPC) (2000) The National Minimum Wage: The Story So Far, Second Report of the Low Pay Commission, Cm 4571. London: HMSO.
14.
Low Pay Commission (LPC) (2001) The National Minimum Wage: Making a Difference, Third Report (Volume One) of the Low Pay Commission, Cm 5075. London: HMSO.
15.
Lucas, R. (1995) Managing Employee Relations in the Hotel and Catering Industry. London: Cassell.
16.
Lucas, R. (1996) `Industrial Relations in Hotels and Catering: Neglect and Paradox?', British Journal of Industrial Relations34(2): 267-286.
17.
Lucas, R. and Langlois, M. (2000) Planning for the National Minimum Wage: Case Study Evidence From Firms in the Clothing and Hospitality Industries. Manchester: Manchester Metropolitan University.
18.
Mars, G. and Mitchell, P. (1976) Room for Reform? A Case Study of Industrial Relations in the Hotel Industry. Milton Keynes: Open University Press.
19.
Mars, G. and Nicod, M. (1984) The World of Waiters. London: George Allen and Unwin.
20.
Metcalf, D. (1999) `The British National Minimum Wage', British Journal of Industrial Relations37(2): 171-201.
21.
Price, L. (1994) `Poor Personnel Practice in the Hotel and Catering Industry: Does it Matter?', Human Resource Management Journal4(4): 44-62.
22.
Ram, M. , Edwards, P.K., Gilman, M. and Arrowsmith, J. (2001) `The Dynamics of Informality: Employment Relations in Small Firms and the Effects of Regulatory Change', Work, Employment and Society15(4): 845-861.
23.
Rees, G. and Fielder, S. (1992) `The Services Economy, Subcontracting and the New Employment Relations: Contract Catering and Cleaning', Work, Employment and Society6(3): 347-368.
24.
Robson, P. , Dex, S. and Wilkinson, F. (1997) The Wage Costs of a Statutory Minimum Wage in Britain, Working Paper Series 63, Cambridge: ESRC Centre for Business Research.
25.
Rowley, G. and Richardson, M. (2000) `Work, Employment and Flexibility in Hospitality', pp. 160-185 in K. Purcell (ed.) Changing Boundaries in Employment. Bristol: Bristol Academic Press.
26.
White, G. (1999) Pay Structures and the Minimum Wage, Occasional Paper 3, London: Low Pay Commission.
27.
Wood, R. (1992) Working in Hotels and Catering. London: Routledge.
