25 March 2020
Every year the Minimum Wage is reviewed by the Employment Rights Committee with the view to ensure that low income workers are protected from poverty. The Committee considers inflation, the state of the economy and views on the rates expressed through public consultation when recommending a rate. As a result of the review, and agreement by Executive Council, this year there will be an increase of 5p to the Minimum Wage with effect from 3 April 2020.
The Minimum Wage will increase to:
- £3.18 per hour for all employees having attained the age of 18 years and
- £2.23 per hour for all young people having attained the age of 16 and 17 years.
St Helena’s Minimum Wage first came into place in June 2013 and at the time was £2.30 per hour for adults. The Minimum Wage has increased by 38% since inception, which is larger than inflation whereby there has been a 21% increase in prices since 2013.
From 3 April 2020, adult full time minimum wage workers will receive a weekly salary of £111.30 assuming a 35 hour work week. This is 20% higher than the most recent statistic of St Helena’s Poverty Line measured by the Minimum Income Standard, which is £91.80 per week. Therefore the Minimum Wage continues to protect workers from poverty.
From 3 April 2020, adult full time minimum wage workers will receive an annual salary of £5,788. This is a difference of 30% compared to the most recent statistic of median gross employee income which is £8,410.
The Minimum Wage on St Helena should not be compared to the Minimum Wage in other countries because the price and consumption of goods and services such as food and clothing, transport, heating, utilities, education, healthcare, insurance, socialising and taxation differs greatly between countries.
#StHelena #MinimumWage #AltogetherWealthier #SEDP
SHG
25 March 2020