‘Equal pay would put the young out of part-time jobs’
Wednesday 26th May 2010, 2:29PM BST.
SETTING the minimum wage at the same level for young people and adults could reduce opportunities for teenagers to find part-time work, according to a restaurant manager.
Elvio Pires, of Smugglers (pictured), who is also president of the Portuguese Association, said an amendment in the States designed to give young people the same minimum wage as adults could do more harm than good.
And the Chamber of Commerce backed the view, saying it was an unnecessary move.
Deputy Matt Fallaize is trying to amend the Commerce and Employment Department’s proposals, which suggest setting the minimum wage at £6 for adults and £4.25 for people aged 16-18.
He wants to see all workers, regardless of age, entitled to a minimum wage of £6.
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If a 16-18 year old is doing the same job as an adult why should’nt he get the same minimum wage.
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Why should young people be discriminated against.Young blood in companies is the way forward. Pay them the same. Personally I would pay them more, generally speaking they have more energy and enthusiasm. You are embarrassing yourself Matt Fallaize to even suggest such a thing. maybe the young ones are a threat to your job mmm!
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John, in principle I agree with you however I do see the other side of the coin here.
If someone can employ a 16-18 year old for less money, they will; this will allow the young person to gain some much needed work experience which is essential in today’s competitive job market.
On the other hand, if the minimum wage is the same then there is no incentive to give work to younger, inexperienced people. So, when a job is advertised and a number of applications are received, the employer will naturally choose to employ a more experienced worker. After all, if you had to pay two people the same wage, wouldn’t you go for the one with more experience?
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@Geoff – I think you’ll find that Matt Fallaize wants equal pay for young people….the last sentence of this article would definitely suggest that.
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Geoff,
I think you may have misunderstood my amendment.
The Commerce & Employment Department is proposing minimum wage rates of £4.25ph for 16-18 year olds, and £6ph for those 19 and over.
My amendment proposes removing the separate, lower rate as soon as possible.
The final sentence of the Press story above is accurate.
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@paul Le Page,
Missed that bit, thanks, I withdraw my sarcasm.
oops
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@Geoff – no problem mate; it’s happened to me before too! :-)
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Whilst I think that both rates are a little low (I have a company in the UK and my policy is to have a company minimum ‘living wage’ of £7.80 p/h) I do see the point in having a slightly lower rate for youngsters, however, this should be for 16 & 17 year olds, should only be 20% less than the adult rate which should apply from 18 onwards.
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Apologies Matt,
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Doug
I suppose it all comes down to “living wage” in Guernsey and not the UK but guess it is probably the same value
For me supply/damand will normally sets the rate above the minimum but also we need to factor in Full-time worker v student looking for a bit of spare cash/no tax bracket and economically will we force some business’s struggling not to employ students?
If it goes above £5 p/h, I suppose my student nephew (17) will demand an increase for Baby-sitting but if I fire him and use his 14 yr old brother instead, I will not feel guilty about paying below the minimum wage.
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I think the guidelines should be equal pay for equal work. So if a 17 year old and a 19 year old are doing exactly the same job then they should receive exactly the same remuneration. If the 19 year old has more responsibility or extra duties because s/he has more experience then by all means differentiate.
The UK has already been through all this. The bosses [often multi-millionaires]come out with same old hoary chestnut that they can’t afford to pay people decent wages. Yawn!! People, especially youngsters, need a bit of an inducement to work hard; like a decent minimum wage; although how anyone on Guernsey could live even on the recommended minimum wage is beyond me. Even local market rents are prohibitive and necessary basic foodstuffs are the sort of prices that would make even a multi-millionaire’s eyes water.
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Could someone answer me a question please? In the UK we pay cleaning staff £7 per hour. In Guernsey we notice that a lot of cleaning companies pay the same amount. I am setting up a new cleaning company and We would like to pay around £8.50 per hour – is this a fair price for a cleaner, or should we be paying them more? I choose to employ older ladies, as they are far more reliable and do a better job than youngsters.
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Just a thought ELVIO,can a 16 to 18 year old get a adult meal at a lower price.
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How would it put the young out of jobs? Where else are they going to find their workforce, immigrants? I thought they had to employ local people first before immigrants.
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Lots of people are saying “if they do the same job, then they should get the same pay”. That’s fine.
But if I have a building labourer, let’s say, and I want to pay minimum wage of £6. I have a 16 year old one and a 19 year old one. My 19 year old one can lift 100kg of bricks safely on his own and bang in a nail in only 3 hits. But my 16 year old, simply because he is not as physically developed can only lift 50kg and takes 6 hits per nail.
They are both doing the same role, but not the same job. It is therefore fair that I should pay my 19 year old more (or my 16 year old less). But as the minimum wage will be £6 regardless of age, I now have to inflate what I pay both of them (the 16 year old to £6 and the 19 year old to say £7.50)
See the problem? It’s going to be inflationary!!Think of that one Parkie??
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A fair minimum wage for all!
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GG – if, as now, there is some unemployment on the island, and an employer can choose between paying an inexperienced 16 year old £6 an hour, or a 19 year old with experience and good references £6 an hour, who are they going to pick? That’s how it will put the young out of work. Nothing to do with “immigrants” (you need to give that a rest, really)- the minimum wage will apply to all.
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billythefish
Shouldn`t you be paying the older guy double then?.
In fact if he`s carrying weights of 100kg and banging in nails with 3 hits you should pay him a lot more as i suspect he wont be fit for anything much pretty soon :).
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Belinda, regardless of the minimum wage they should be picking the more experienced candidate.
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