Local labour markets now set what your business staff take home
In a Labour Shortage city the staff of your businesses now take home 25% more than their salary, and in a Low Cost of Living city 20% less. What you pay is unchanged: until now they were handed their plain salary whatever the city. Headquarters staff keep their salary.
Some cities have a labour-market trait. Labour Shortage raises the payroll of businesses there by 25%, and Low Cost of Living lowers it by 20%. Your businesses' payroll has always been billed that way.
Until now, though, the staff of those businesses were handed their plain salary either way. In a Labour Shortage city the extra 25% you paid never reached anyone, and in a Low Cost of Living city staff received more than you were charged.
Now the wage follows the trait:
- Labour Shortage: your business staff take home their salary plus 25%, which is exactly what you pay for them. - Low Cost of Living: your business staff take home their salary minus 20%, which is exactly what you pay for them. - A city with both traits applies both: plus 5%.
Nothing changes in what you pay. Your businesses' payroll, production labour costs and payroll tax stay exactly as they were. Income tax is withheld from what staff actually receive, so it moves with the wage.
Headquarters staff are not affected. Headquarters payroll carries no labour-market trait, so your HQ team is billed and paid its salary, as before.
Late wages follow the same rule: an unpaid day that is settled later pays your staff the same wage it would have paid on the day.
Citizens in Labour Shortage cities now have more to spend in local shops, and citizens in Low Cost of Living cities less.