Japa: New Zealand’s minimum wage Soars to $14 per hour
New Zealand’s adult minimum wage rate will increase by 2 per cent to 23.15 NZ (New Zealand) dollars, (14.12 U.S. dollars) an hour from April 1.
The government is committed to striking the right balance between protecting the incomes of the lowest paid workers, Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke Van Velden said on Thursday.
As well as maintaining labour market settings that encourage employment, She said.
The government has taken a cautious approach to the minimum wage this year as the economic context has changed significantly over the past year”, Van Velden said.
Van Velden added that while unemployment is currently low, the labour market is softening due to high net migration rates, constrained consumer spending, and subdued economic growth.
However, as a ratio to the median wage, the minimum wage has increased from 62 per cent of the median wage in June 2017 to 72 per cent in June 2023.
According to her, it made it harder for businesses to issue pay raises or take on more staff.
However, the opposition Labor Party criticised the minimum wage increase as “tiny.”
The minister stated that the increase has taken into consideration the current economic conditions and the historically large increases to the minimum wage that have distorted relativities with other wage earners.
However, training wages and starting wages will remain at 80 per cent of the adult minimum wage rate.
Meanwhile, the Federal Government of Nigeria and the organized labour have not agreed on the new minimum wage for workers despite the failing economy.
The Nigerian Labour Congress said on Tuesday that the N200,000 minimum wage it earlier proposed to President Bola Tinubu’s administration was no longer realistic.
The NLC said this considering the country’s current economic situation, according to National Vice President, Tommy Etim, who reacted to Tuesday’s inauguration of the Minimum Wage Committee by Vice President Kashim Shettima.
