ABSTRACT
The divide between salaried and waged workers has been a fundamental and significant feature of payment systems within the UK. This chapter focuses on the position of 'waged' workers. This opening section sets the framework for discussion by identifying the ways in which 'waged' workers are differentiated from those who are salaried, with reference both to workplace rules and to the composition of the wage packet. The second section points to the limited scope of state regulation and the importance of employer discretion on wages. The third considers the significance of the hourly rate of pay as a basis for wage calculations, including overtime. Incentive schemes are considered in the fourth section with particular attention to the decline of payment by results. Skills-based pay and single-status working are discussed in turn in the fifth and sixth sections of the chapter, which concludes with a comment on the future of wages systems.
