Government's pay-equity focus may fuel wage inflation after third-quarter spike

Wed, 01 Nov 2017

By Rebecca Howard Nov. 1 (BusinessDesk) - A $2 billion pay equity settlement pushed up wage inflation in the September quarter and pay pressure may continue to accelerate because the new government plans to dump a bill that would have stymied similar deals. The previous National Party-led government announced a $2.05 billion pay equity pay deal for some 55,000 aged and residential care workers, which took effect on July 1 and contributed to a 0.6 percent increase in wage inflation in the third quarter and an annual increase of 1.9 percen...

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