BARRING another States U-turn, the poorest workers in our community will get some protection come October this year.

That it is three years since deputies voted for a minimum wage shows once again just how slowly the wheels of state currently grind.

Nevertheless, while it may be a faltering step, it is a positive one that both employers and employees should welcome.

Commerce and Employment was clear in 2007 what was the main objective: stopping financial exploitation in the workplace.

It is not about ridding the island of absolute poverty, although it will help, nor is it to provide everyone with a ‘living wage’, ie. enough money to live given matters such as tax and social security.

Commerce has also vowed it will not be a heavy-handed bureaucratic burden on employers. The usual records will need to be kept of hours worked and wages paid but the system is intended to be reactive, not pro-active.

What that means is that staff who feel they are being exploited must make a complaint and tip-off the authorities that their boss is not playing fair.

Only then will the department investigate and take action.

It remains to be seen how effective such a system will be. It is all too easy to imagine a guest worker newly-arrived in the island with little knowledge of the system accepting their lot as ‘the Guernsey way’.

Others may know the system but fear being picked on afterwards as a whistleblower. Commerce acknowledges this is a risk but believes it can be treated in much the same way as sex discrimination.

However, where most of the discussion will lie is in what constitutes a fair minimum wage. Almost certainly, employers and employees will differ.

Interestingly, our straw poll on page 3 today already shows just such a division developing over the £6 an hour figure.

It is up to the States to find the middle path that neither damages the jobs market nor leaves staff vulnerable to exploitation.

With Commerce due to review the minimum level each year let us hope that that arrives more speedily than this first figure.