Douglas addresses enforcement, repercussions of increased minimum wage
By Ryan Haas
Reporter-SKNVibes.com
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Hon. Denzil Douglas
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BASSETERRE, St. Kitts-PRIME Minister Dr. Hon. Denzil Douglas addressed the concerns of workers earning minimum wage yesterday (Nov. 11) on his weekly radio program “Ask the Prime Minister”, saying that any employer who does not follow the recent wage increase as legislated will be “open to investigation from the Labour Department”.
While the rights of workers won a victory on November 1 due to a 28% minimum wage increase from $250 to $320 per forty hour work week, many employees have expressed serious concern that their employers may simply choose to ignore the Labour Minimum Wage Act.
“This is a real concern because just yesterday in Cabinet there was discussion about this very matter,” Douglas said on his radio program. A caller then asked him what steps the government would be taking to ensure such anti-worker acts do not occur.
“There has to be inspections by the Labour Department. They have to look at the wage books of the employers, and they have the right of the law to inspect those wage books,” he said.
The response was similar to a previous SKNVibes interview with Labour Commissioner Spencer Amory, who said that “the law is the law” and employers would have to adhere to the new stipulations whether or not they are in favor.
The Prime Minister also addressed concerns that have been raised about possible layoffs in the industrial sector, an area of the Federation’s workforce that stands to benefit the most from the minimum wage increase. ~~Adz:Right~~
“We understand that some of the establishments were going to do a number of things like threatening to lay-off people, and those are tactics we believe are unfair and unjust.
“I want to use this program to make a strong appeal to our employers. All of us have to build this country. It is unfair for [employees] to be penalized and punished because we have legislated, after consultation with the employers, that the minimum wage has to be increased,” Douglas said.
He also encouraged employers to remember that the minimum wage is not the “maximum” they should be paying to skilled employees just because it was recently increased.
“This is not what you should pay only, because if the person is a hard worker and is skilled then you can pay him much higher than that. It depends on his ability, productivity, capacity, education level and skill level that you would decide what to pay him.”
