‘Businesses that pay too little lose staff’
Thursday 15th April 2010, 2:29PM BST.
A HOTELIER has called minimum wage legislation an ‘iron fist’ approach by government and does not see any need for it.
La Grande Mare Hotel managing director Simon Vermeulen (pictured) said most businesses already paid above the £6 rate and provided good accommodation.
‘I don’t think businesses in Guernsey need government intervention, telling us what we can and can’t pay,’ he said.
The States will vote on the proposed rates for the minimum wage in May. If approved, workers aged 19 and over will from October be entitled to at least £6 an hour and those between 16 and 19, £4.25 an hour. Employers will also be able to deduct up to £85 a week from wages if they provide accommodation and food.
Mr Vermeulen said the proposals could mean some staff would see the quality of their accommodation fall.
- Read the full story in the Guernsey Press. See below for subscription details.
- To read Guernsey Press stories in full click here for subscription details. Individual editions are now available online.
Island Life
All about Guernsey
Ambassador of the Year 2011
History & Heritage
Visitor Information
Guernsey's government
Campaigns
Voice For Victims
Voice for Victims is a campaign aimed at promoting the rights of those affected by child sexual abuse.
This is Guernsey
Guernsey Press
Useful Links
Mr Vermeulen has obviously missed one important consequence for the good employers – that is that the bad employers undercutting the minimum wage will not be able to gain a labour cost advantage over the good. Surely this is to the advantage of the businesses already paying above the stipulated rate? They would have no increase in costs but the poorly paying businesses will have a cost increase and lose their competitive edge.
Report abuse
I consider myself lucky to have been afforded the privilege of being able to live and work on the charming island of Guernsey. I worked in the hotel sector and thought I’d like to throw in my two-cents worth.
I lived in high-density poor quality staff accommodation with no central-heating. The fact of the matter is that proprietors do not provide accommodation and food out of a sense of philanthropic duty; if they had to pay a wage that would enable employees to survive in the private-sector, it would cost them far more than the raft of benefits that they seem to think they provide.
The deductions made from salary may even have been worth more than the value of the benefits themselves (so as to subsidise the hotel’s profit margin) as food was usually left-overs that would have been disposed of – the economies of scale involved on the accommodation side of things meant that the building had probably paid for itself many times over.
I see no reason why any well-run, profitable business can’t pay employees a decent living wage rather than take advantage of young people whose native-tongue is usually not English. I concur entirely with the above view – removing the labour cost advantage to the unscrupulous types will mean they have to exit the market or play fair.
Report abuse