As you will know, the National Living Wage kicks in with effect from April 2016 and sees employees becoming entitled to a minimum hourly rate of £7.20.

This increase in pay is expected to cost employers £1.1billion. The Regulatory Policy Committee has estimated that the increase in the minimum wage from £6.70 per hour to £7.20 per hour for employees aged over 25 will increase labour costs for private sector employers by £700million in pay plus a further £137.5million in additional costs such as employer's National Insurance Contributions and employer's pension contributions.

Despite this, research by Group Risk Development has found that 62% of employers said that they agreed with the introduction of the national living wage at £7.20 per hour. This result came from a survey of 501 employers in September 2015.