Business leaders are seeking answers after the government suddenly delayed a much-vaunted increase in the minimum wage.
Confusion still surrounds the reason for Premier Natalio “Sowande” Wheatley’s decision to postpone the long-planned increase from $6 to $8.50 per hour.
The boost was scheduled to take effect on Nov. 30, but three days later Mr. Wheatley, who is also finance minister, abruptly announced that the change would not go ahead as promised.
In his other role as minister of financial services, economic development and digital transformation, Mr. Wheatley explained that the decision was “a matter of policy” and said a new date for the increase would be announced in the first quarter of 2025.
But Chamber of Commerce Chairwoman Shaina Smith-Archer told the Beacon that the organisation has reached out to government and is still looking for clarification.
“We haven’t heard anything in terms of the reason behind it,” Ms. Smith-Archer said, adding that the chamber wants to know if the surprise move was simply procedural or if the government is “reconsidering the policy.”
Impacted
Though many employers are already paying above the baseline wage rate, she said, some will nevertheless be impacted by the change.
“I don’t know … if persons might have lobbied in terms of their readiness,” she said. “Because that was one of the things for us when we gave feedback about the process: that enough time is given to be able to budget for it.”
Ms. Smith-Archer indicated that some employers may not have had time to incorporate the rise into their financial structures.
“Because it’s a major change, it has complications at the end of the year,” she said. “It doesn’t mean that people had this already planned in their operating budgets and costs.”
Ms. Smith-Archer explained that labour costs, along with energy and rentals, are a major part of business outlays.
Despite repeated requests from the Beacon for an explanation of the delay, the premier has not clarified the situation.
Criticism
Opposition member Lorna Smith, who oversaw preparation for the increase before Mr. Wheatley fired her from her position as financial services and labour minister in October, branded the move “reckless.”
Ms. Smith insisted the government had ample time to implement a smooth transition to the new hourly minimum.
She added that the abrupt halt was destabilising for workers and companies alike.
The move came just a week after the premier had talked up the baseline pay hike as evidence that his government was addressing the high cost of living.
Planning
The plan to boost the minimum wage also came after a review committee recommended a three-dollar increase to the $6 an hour that has been in place since 2016.
The government announced amid much fanfare in July that a rate of $8.50 an hour would come into force at the end of November.
The Minimum Wage Advisory Committee, which was appointed by Mr. Wheatley in November 2023, was drawn from various sectors of business and society, and it conducted surveys and focus groups to help come to its conclusions.
The move followed a 2022 review of social assistance in the territory by the Belgium-based Social Policy Research Institute. That body declared that $6 an hour was “well below” what was necessary.
However, the study also stated that the speed at which rates are increased should take economic conditions into account.
Until the October 2016 increase, the minimum wage had been $4 an hour since 1999.
