Deputy Premier Chris Saunders said a committee is being assembled to review Cayman’s existing $6 minimum wage which he described as “absolutely way too low.”
Saunders, speaking with the Cayman Compass at a hospitality fair on Saturday, said a lot of the jobs within the tourism industry are paid at minimum wage and government is looking to increase that figure.
He said a committee is needed, so that all aspects of the issue can be assessed, including the effects on businesses, employees and the overall economy.
“[T]hen we [will] look to gradually get it up [to] where we can have a decent living wage where people can actually live their best life,” Saunders added.
He pointed out that even the tourism stipend, which is pegged at $1,500 a month, reflects an increase, as it works out to about $9 per hour.
Saunders added that the Opposition had proposed a $2,000 monthly stipend, which comes to about $12 per hour. “Then the question is, why are we even paying $6?” he said.
This, he said, signals a need to increase the current rate.
Saunders said a number of factors have to be considered when it comes to making changes to the minimum pay, but the priority remains getting Caymanians into jobs, especially as tourism restarts, and helping them to keep food on the table.
Work permit delays
Addressing concerns about the delay in granting work permits, Saunders said government policy continues to be “Caymanian first”.
“Businesses need to recognise that just as how those businesses expect the government to protect them from unfair foreign competition… labour is a factor of production and Caymanian labour needs to also be protected from unfair foreign competition,” he said.
No timeline was provided on when the committee will begin its work.
Back in 2019, then-Premier Alden McLaughlin said Cayman’s $6-an-hour minimum wage, would undergo a review process.
The Minimum Wage Advisory Committee, with assistance from the International Labour Organization, he said at the time, would reconvene to determine if the current minimum wage was still effective and make recommendations for reforms.
That process was stalled following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The current minimum wage went into effect on 1 March 2016 under McLaughlin’s administration.
The $6-an-hour rate is set as the minimum wage for most employees in the Cayman Islands. Service workers who get gratuities earn a minimum hourly rate of $4.50 and special calculations apply for live-in household domestics, as well as employees earning commission.
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We need a Minimum Wage and a Living Wage.
There is a utility to a minimum wage paid by employers and also to recognising that for many people there is a moral need for a living wage, though defining it and who pays what parts of it are harder questions socially, politically and economically.
CIG needs to collaborate with private sector employers. You think there is inflation now? What will CIG be doing to contribute to the minimum wage? Reducing import duties? Reducing licensing fees?
I completely agree that the minimum wage should go up. Government should consider a second tier for waiters and waitresses because gratuities at high end establishments can be very very high. A hard working waiter in a high end restaurant can make 50k+ per year in tips. They deserve it, it’s hard work. However if you add in a tripling of the minimum wage on top of that, then you will see restaurants raise prices and eating out will become more of a burden on locals – that or service quality will go down as many restaurants don’t hire as aggressively. Not all minimum wage jobs are equal. There should be adjustment/allowance to the minimum wage where gratuities schemes come into play.
How can someone make it with six dollars a hour when everything is going up rent is for 600 for for the month 400 light and water 90 transportation 80!! That’s 1,170 and you making 1080 for the month is that workable?