Manitoba rejects 2-tiered minimum wage
Manitoba's government is dismissing the idea of a two-tier minimum wage floated Monday by the restaurant industry in advance of a minimum wage hike.
The provincial minimum wage in Manitoba will increase 50 cents an hour to $8.50 on April 1.
Scott Jocelyn, executive director of the Manitoba Restaurant and Foodservices Association, called on the province to consider allowing a wage lower than the minimum for students or people who can supplement their income with tips.
But Labour Minister Nancy Allen said the province is not considering such a move.
"We did consult on it shortly after we became government and there was no consensus on a two-tiered minimum wage," she said.
"It is difficult to administrate, and if you look at what's happening in all of the jurisdictions across Canada, there has been a move away from a two-tiered system."
It's a misconception that serving staff in restaurants load up on tips, Allen added, pointing out that tips technically belong to employers, who can distribute them as they wish.
"Lots of employers pool tips and give them to all the employees in the establishment," she said. "Quite often employees washing dishes, those kind of things, they get a part of the tip as well."
Next week's increase is the eighth — and largest — hike to the minimum wage since the NDP took power in 1999.
At the new minimum wage, a person working for 40 hours per week will earn an annual salary of $17,680. The poverty line for a single person in Canada in 2006 was $21,202, according to Statistics Canada. |
