INTRODUCING a minimum wage could harm industry. Stan Brouard managing director Rodney Brouard said industries such as growing, which were already struggling, could be hit the hardest.

‘We can’t just put our prices up to put our wages up because we have to compete with people who are being paid a lot less than we pay our people,’ he said.

Mr Brouard’s company supplies more than 80% of foreign workers to the growing industry.

‘People can earn a lot more here than they can in a place like Latvia, but if the wages are hiked up, there might not be the jobs for them.’

The postal flowers industry was already being badly affected by a rise in postal fees, and the price of oil had rocketed.

Guernsey Chamber of Commerce president Mark Trenchard said that in a general form introducing a minimum wage was a dangerous road for the island to take.

A minimum wage did not allow for what else was included in an employee’s package and in certain industries such as hospitality, there were numerous ‘perks’ that might not form part of a wage.

He said Guernsey employers could not draw labour from down the road and, conversely, there was the fixed nature of those who lived here.

‘The island has a diverse business base and it makes the application of a minimum wage a difficult thing to do in such an economy,’ he said.

Chamber was not against people earning fair wages but there could be a difference between an eight-hour day and a 15-hour day and it was what was being done during those hours that mattered.

Guernsey Hospitality and Tourism Group chairman Chris Sharp said that Commerce and Employment would need to consider more than just an hourly pay rate before putting proposals to the States.

‘We will be interested to see what they propose, but all issues need to be taken into account,’ he said.

‘The issue with the hotel and tourism trade is not always about hourly rates but the full package, and things such as subsidised accommodation and meals on duty need to be taken into account.’

The hospitality trade was often singled out as a poor payer, he said.

‘But I’d be interested to see what we have to offer compared to other industries here when the complete employment package is taken into account, as I’m not sure that’s the case these days.’

The hospitality trade traditionally employed young people who saw it as a chance to travel. Few stayed for many years and some saw it as a form of subsidised travel.