Govt lifts minimum wage 50 cts to $13.50 an hour

Wednesday 8th February 2012 1 Comment

The government will lift the minimum wage 50 cents to $13.50 an hour from the start of April.

Labour Minister Kate Wilkinson said the “increase strikes the right balance between protecting low paid workers and ensuring that jobs are not lost during these tough economic times.” The training and new entrants’ minimum wages rose 40 cents to $10.80 an hour.

The government has consistently resisted calls to hike it up to $15 an hour, saying that would lead to some 6,000 job losses.

The hike comes a day after government figures showed average hourly earnings rose 2.8 percent to $26.59 an hour in the 2011 calendar year. That was made up of a 2.8 percent rise in private sector wages to $24.58 and a 3.2 percent increase in public servant pay to $33.86 an hour.

(BusinessDesk)

BusinessDesk.co.nz

Comments from our readers

On 9 February 2012 at 9:00 am aw said:

So power is due to go up 10%, rates have gone up 10% and inflation is running at 2.5 to 5%. CEOs have been getting 18% payrises but those who actually spend their incomes on the necessities of life are getting just over 3.5% And this government will wonder why the plebs are getting restless.