Labour Ministry probing reports of some employers not paying new minimum wage

Some six months after the new $60,000 national minimum wage order took effect, there are several companies that are still paying their workers below that figure.
This is according to Labour Minister Joseph Hamilton, who said the Ministry is investigating those reports.
“As far as I know, there are some reports that have come to the Ministry that employers might not be paying the national minimum wage. The minimum wage is a national minimum wage and not a private sector minimum wage. We’ve had some reports where employees have indicated that their employer is not yet paying the minimum wage. We have proceeded to investigate those matters,” Hamilton explained.
When the national minimum wage changes were gazetted, it was indicated that the minimum rate of wages payable to an employee shall not be less than $347 per hour or $2776 per day. This translates to $13,880 weekly and $60,147 monthly.
Moreover, the normal work week shall be 40 hours, and shall not exceed five days per week and any hours of work beyond the standard working period shall be paid at the rates set out in the Factories Act and the Labour Act; or any other law or collective bargaining agreement in force.
It has been explicitly stated that any employer that contravenes the provisions of the order shall be liable upon summary conviction to a fine of $50,000 for the first offence. For any second or subsequent office, they will be slapped with a fine of $100,000 or imprisonment for one month.
Categories of workers who were supposed to benefit from this increase include those in seafood processing, domestic work, internet or café services, call centres, janitorial, schools, hospitals, machine shops, cement factories, auto body shops, wash bays, taxi services, welding, vulcanising, daycare, wildlife farms, tour operators, bakeries, filling stations, drug stores, cinemas, sawmills, water factories, scrap metal, radio stations, television stations, casinos, manufacturing, construction, food processing, hospitality, entertainment, ice factories, sanitising, agriculture, retail or wholesale trade, hotels, liquor stores, night clubs, parlours, restaurants, taverns, discotheque, canteens, tailors, security services, garment making among others.
The private sector’s minimum wage was last increased in 2017, from an hourly rate of $202 to $255, taking the monthly wage from $35,000 to the current $44,200.
Shortly after taking office in August 2020, Minister Hamilton announced the increase of the private sector minimum wage to $60,000. However, while an order to this effect was made, there was no timeline set for its enforcement. This was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact it has had on businesses. When the country began opening up last year, these talks resumed and were confirmed this year.