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The Ministry of Labour reminds all employers that the minimum wage
will increase to $8.00 per hour for most general employees on
February 1, 2007
. The current rate is $7.75. This amounts
to a 3.2% increase. During the past three years the minimum wage has
increased almost 17% from its pre-2004 rate of $6.85.
The new rate for
students under the age of 18 who work 28 hours a week or less will be
$7.50 and for people working in licensed restaurants and taverns, the rate
will be $6.95 per hour as of February 1, 2007.
By definition, “The
minimum
wage is the lowest rate an employer can pay an employee. Most employees
are eligible for minimum wage, whether they are full-time, part-time,
casual employees, or are paid an hourly rate, commission, piece rate, flat
rate or salary.”
A significant
percentage of employees in the City of
Greater Sudbury
are employed at the minimum wage level, so this will result in a small
increase in their take home pay every week. However, critics of the
government point out that this still only amounts to $10 per week before
deductions if a person is lucky enough to be working 40 hours a week. It
is estimated that approximately 60% of all employees in the City of
Greater
Sudbury
earn $10 or less per hour. The rate
increase will have a direct financial impact upon businesses in the region
that pay their employees the minimum rate.
A study in Greater Sudbury during the fall
of 2006 showed that despite the tremendous growth being experienced in
this area, and despite the fact that there are a lot of people having
trouble finding jobs, hundreds of retail positions are going unfilled
because employers simply can't find anyone willing to take the jobs.
Once
of the reasons so many of the retail jobs are going unfilled is because
people are finding it extremely difficult to live on minimum wage. Even if
you can get 40 hours a week, you are still only making $1,600 per month
before taxes if you can get a job that pays $10 an hour. If you are being
paid $8.00 an hour, that figure drops to $1,280 per month.
As
a result, young people are still moving out of the region in search of
better paying jobs.
Employers
are also wondering why there are not as many students around to fill the
retail jobs, but the answer to that question is easy to determine when you
examine the nature of the education system today. The demands being made
upon secondary and post-secondary students to achieve the highest marks
possible leave little time for part-time jobs. For many, the prospect of
ruining one's chances of getting into the university program of your
choice in order to make $160 a week just isn't worth the risk. And since
most of the hours for students come during the evening or on weekends,
many are simply choosing to stay home and study.
The
minimum wage will help somewhat in helping move earnings closer to a
decent level, but $8.00 per hour is not going to help anyone get out of
debt or make ends meet in this expensive world.
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