Minimum Wage Increase - 1st April

By the time you read this, the minimum wage in New Zealand will have increased from $15.75 to $16.50 per hour.

Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety, Iain Lees-Galloway, says the $0.75 rise will benefit around 164,000 workers and their families, and will increase total wages by $129 million per year.

"Raising the minimum wage was one of the Government's top priorities for the first 100 days,” he says, “and we are committed to increasing the minimum wage to $20 by 2021."

The Minister also advised that within the first 12 months of the Government’s term it will abolish starting-out rates and consider changes to the training wage. In the meantime, those rates will continue to be 80% of the minimum wage, increasing to $13.20 per hour from 1 April 2018.

More at www.beehive.govt.nz/release/minimum-wage-increase-1650-hour. And call us if you need advice on implementing the rise for your staff.