Last month, Deputy Susie Pinel lodged proposals calling for the minimum wage to be increased by 4.5 per cent to £7.50 an hour – the largest rise in a decade – next April, as recommended by the States Employment Forum.
The changes mean that a person earning the minimum wage who works for 35 hours a week would have an annual salary of £13,650.
During States questions, Deputy Sam Mézec asked whether the minister would consider increasing the rate even further, after recent States reports revealed rising inflation but ‘flat-lining’ wage increases over the last decade.
Assistant Social Security Minister Graham Truscott, answering on behalf of the minister, said that Deputy Pinel had ‘no intention’ of repealing her current order and setting a higher rate. ‘We, as a ministerial team, have every confidence in the Employment Forum’s recommendation,’ he said.
Deputy Geoff Southern pointed out that a recent report by consultants Oxera, which was published after the Employment Forum made its last recommendation, said that ‘minimal harm’ would be done to the economy if the rate was increased further.
Deputy Truscott said that any increases in the minimum wage should be ‘measured and controlled’. ‘I personally feel that if you move too quickly with an increase in the minimum wage, there would be job losses,’ he said.
Deputy Mézec said that the Employment Forum’s recommendation was ‘out of date’ and that the Chief Minister was planning to increase the target level of the minimum wage by 2022. In response, the assistant minister said that there was ‘considerable uncertainty’ in the UK and Jersey economies, and that to push the minimum wage level ‘too fast, too soon’ would result in job losses.
