The minimum wage is going up – not to $15 an hour but by $1.25.
Minister Christopher Mitchelmore has come out with a four-step increase to boost the pay for the lowest income earners by $1.25 an hour. The wage currently stands at $11.40 and will be $11.65 as of April 1. Next October, the rate goes up by 50 cents to $12.15, then to $12.40 as of April 2021, and $12.65 as of Oct. 2021.
Those increases are guaranteed, but additional increases will be based on the Consumer Price Index.
Mitchelmore says the four-step system gives employers time to factor the new rates into their business planning. He says it’s a balanced approach designed to bring Newfoundland and Labrador more in line with our Atlantic counterparts.