Book Review: The Real Living Wage: Civil Regulation and the Employment Relationship. By Edmund Heery, Deborah Hann, and David Nash.

"The Real Living Wage: Civil Regulation and the Employment Relationship" by Edmund Heery, Deborah Hann, and David Nash is a comprehensive book that explores the implementation, operation, and effects of the Real Living Wage (RLW) in the United Kingdom. The book focuses on the work of the Living Wage Foundation and examines the impact of the RLW on employers, unions, and public authorities. It highlights the significance of the RLW as a form of private, civil regulation in the context of declining collective regulation of work in the UK. The book presents qualitative and quantitative data that demonstrate the positive effects of the RLW on organizations and workers, with minimal negative effects reported. It also discusses the role of local politics in promoting the RLW and suggests the need for further research on enforcement and sub-national labor markets. Overall, "The Real Living Wage" provides valuable insights into labor regulation in the UK and beyond. [Extracted from the article]