ESS president Peter Roffey has called the bid by Deputies Sasha Kazantseva-Miller and Bob Murray ‘a wolf in sheep’s clothing’.
The committees’ propositions ask members to approve an increase in the adult minimum wage from £12 to £12.60 and from £10.80 to £11.35 for 16- and 17-year-olds.
This would take effect from 1 October, if members approve.
ESS would usually bring forward its recommendations later in the year, but with the election due it decided to put them earlier.
But the amendment would put the increase on hold and instruct ESS to go away and consider making the annual increase take effect from 1 January, to coincide with the tax year. It also calls on the committee to use ‘more up to date economic statistics’ such as the most recent RPIX.
‘Deputy Kazantseva-Miller seems to be obsessed with RPIX as the main determinant [of minimum wage] but it’s one of a raft of things that are taken into account,’ said Deputy Roffey.
‘Our minimum wage is already lower than the UK and the Isle of Man and way lower than Jersey’s.’
The amendment said that another key issue was the increases in minimum wage each year being out-of-sync with the Guernsey tax year, which runs from 1 January to 31 December, and the States’ annual budget process.
But Deputy Roffey did not accept that this was necessary and the committee had had requests from some employers for more notice of minimum wage increases.
ESS was always happy to consider suggestions and would have done so in this case. ‘Had it been an amendment that allowed the increases to go through and then asked us to consider things we would be OK with it,’ he said.
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