Minimum Wage To Rise In October

Deputies overwhelmingly approve an 11% increase to Guernsey's minimum wage.

Guernsey's adult minimum wage will increase to £10.65 an hour from October.

Employment and Social Security committee president, deputy Peter Roffey, said it was important to pay increased rates to those on lower earnings, because Guernsey is becoming more and more expensive. He directed some of his speech to fellow deputy Simon Vermeulen, and the spectre of very expensive drinks:

"Deputy Vermeulen warns us about the £10 pint. And yet people on the current minimum wage, if we're talking about the £10 pint, are earning less an hour than it costs to buy a pint of beer in his friend's establishments. I don't think that is acceptable."

The minimum wage for under 18s will rise to £9.65 an hour. 

Deputy Andrea Dudley-Owen warned that the local economy may not see the benefits of that, because of the attraction of online shopping:

"And what do they do with disposable income? They dispose of it quite quickly. And in terms of purchases for clothes, often it's off island, so money doesn't really circulate in Guernsey."

Deputies voted through the Policy Letter from Employment and Social Security by a majority of 37 to 2.