New minimum wage rate

Press, 3 February 1987, Page 3

New minimum wage rate

Wellington reporter

A new statutory minimum wage rate of $2lO a week ($5.25 an hour) has been announced by the Minister of Labour, Mr Rodger. The Minimum Wage Order, 1987, increased the level of the minimum wage from $l7O to $2lO a week, or from $4.25 to $5.25 an hour — an increase of about 23.5 per cent.

He said the Government’s policy was to realign the level of the minimum wage to take account of movements in general wage rates. The statutory minimum wage continued to apply to all workers, both male and female, to whom the minimum wage legislation applied who were aged over 19.

At the Tripartite Wage Conference in 1986 the

Federation of Labour and the Combined State Unions had recommended that the statutory minimum wage should be set at $245 and that it should apply at 18 years, Mr Rodger said. On the other hand, the Employers’ Federation had recommended a figure of $195 applying at the age of 20.

The Labour Relations Bill, which was passing through Parliament, made several amendments to the Minimum Wage Act, he said.

These included the requirement that employers maintain wages and time records; the right of entry to premises for an inspector to enforce minimum wage requirements; and the power of the Labour Court or District Court to issue a compliance order under the act.