April is not too far away now, so a perfect time to remind you, especially if you’re an employer, that the minimum wage increases to $17.70 an hour on 1 April 2019 – an increase of $1.20 per hour (or 7% approximately).  The government plans to lift the official Minimum Wage to $18.90 from 1 April 2020 and $20 from 1 April 2021. These rates will be subject to each year’s annual review.

Apart from changing your hourly rates, one of the things to keep in mind is that you’ll have to adjust your calculation for checking that piece rate payments are providing workers with the minimum wage, and too the top-up calculation. 

In case you need to know, the starting-out and training minimum wage rates also increase 1 April from $13.20 to $14.16 per hour – remaining at 80 per cent of the adult minimum wage.

If you want any help with reviewing your business plan in light of this increase, be sure to contact us sooner than later.