Business sector braces for minimum wage hike
Business owners are now preparing for the inevitable changes the Ontario minimum wage hike will bring forth in January.
The Wynne Liberal government approved an omnibus piece of legislation on November 22 that will increase the province’s minimum wage to 14 $ an hour, beginning on January 1st, 2018, and ultimately to 15 $ exactly one year later. The Fair Workplaces, Better Jobs Act, commonly known as Bill 148, also makes amendments to several labour and employment standards, such as decreasing the corporate tax rate to 3.5 per cent from 4.5, ensuring the same pay for part-time, casual and temporary employees as full-timers for equal work, and allowing ten days of personal emergency leave for all employees, amongst other things. The minimum wage hike, however, remains the prime source of disagreement.
After several years of research and debate, the legislation has been streamlined by government representatives as a boost for the economy – more people spending more money; less people relying on government assistance – however, through several public consultations, many in the business sector are concerned about the speed in which the government has pushed this agenda.
“I am not against minimum wage increases, I’m only against the time span they are doing it in,” said Eli Saikaley, the owner of Friendly Restaurant & Pizzeria in Rockland. “A year and three months for over a 30 per cent increase is way too short. It should have been over at least four years.”
These exact sentiments were expressed by the Hawkesbury Chamber of Commerce, the Clarence-Rockland Chamber of Commerce and the United Counties of Prescott and Russell in a joint letter written to the Minister of Labour, Kevin Flynn, in September. The letter addressed the large increase in payroll the minimum wage would impose on bottom line businesses, some of which would not survive, and proposed a more reasonable time frame of reaching the 15 $ end goal by the year 2022 instead. “We knew, no question about it, that the bill was going to pass. The question was always more when and how,” said Karine Lauzon, the director general of the Clarence-Rockland Chamber of Commerce.
For Julie Brisson, president of the Prescott-Russell Chamber of Commerce (CCPCC), the impact of raising the minimum wage on entrepreneurs will vary according to their type of business.”Certainly, companies with minimum wage people will see a big impact on their bottom line, because that’s where the increases are going to be,” she said. “It’s a change, and it’s scary. It will sure have an impact over the long term and contractors will have to adjust.”
Business owners in Embrun are also bracing for the changes with one owner having a study done to determine the necessary price increase to his products. “The increase in wages goes on the backs of customers,” he said. In the meantime, restaurant owner Eli Saikaley has already begun to brace for the changes that will need to come to his restaurant, including the raise he will have to give his higher-paid employees and the increase in fees to his menu. “I will not lower my standards,” he announced. “We will need to pass it on to the consumer by increasing our menu to maintain our quality food and service.”
Saikaley also knows he will have to raise his employees’ salaries already earning in the ballpark of the 15 an hour wage, or else his chefs will end up making the same as his dishwashers. “Labor cost is going up, so supply costs are going to go up,” he added. “It doesn’t just work as a minimum wage increase, it is an everyone and everything increase.”
Despite these concerns by those in the business sector, the government has remained firm on their position. In a letter addressed back to the Chambers of Commerce and the UCPR, the Minister of Labour reiterated the advantages of Bill 148 – higher wages lead to greater productivity and more spending power for low income earners.