The Minimum Wage will increase from 1 April 2018.
The Government is legally obliged to review the Minimum Wage annually. However, the new Government has already pledged to get it up to $20 per hour by 2020
From April 1 2018 the new minimum wage rates are:
Adult - $16.50 an hour
Starting-out - $13.20 an hour (up from $12.60)
Training - $13.20 an hour (up from $12.60)
Starting-out and training minimum wages are 80% of the adult minimum wage.
What you'll need to do: You and your staff can agree to any wage above the minimum rate. If you already pay above the minimum wage there is no obligation to increase it respectively.
Employees who are paid wages need to be paid for the actual hours they work. This includes any extra hours completed.
For Salaried staff you need to consider if they are being paid below minimum wage for any hour of work in the overall picture.
If your employment agreements are a few years old, you can use this as a chance to update them using our easy to use tool in our Employers Tool Box Agreement Builder. Note that it is a legal requirement to have a written employment agreement with all your staff.
For more information on minimum wage please
see here.