The minimum wage increased on 1 April 2020
The Government has a long-declared intention to increase minimum wages. The minimum rate rose to $18.90 on 1 April 2020 and will further increase to $20 on 1 April 2021.
If you employ people on salary, expand the section below and the table will help you work out how many hours your team members can work before they hit the new minimum wage threshold from 1 April.
Getting started
- Negotiate and agree a remuneration package (sometimes called total package value) with your employee during recruitment and confirm by signing an employment agreement.
- Keep accurate timesheets as this is a legal requirement and allows you to review hours worked against the remuneration package. This is necessary when an employee is employed on an hourly basis but good practice in all situations. Learn more here.
- Reconcile the number of hours worked each pay period against the wage/salary paid. Legally you must pay at least the minimum wage for each hour worked. Learn more here.
- Wage deductions can only be made where you have written consent from your employee. Learn more here.
- Tax appropriately by making sure that all cash and non-cash benefits are being taxed appropriately.
Remember to...
- Keep up to date with the average industry salary/wages. Federated Farmers publish a report each year, you can seek information through recruitment agencies and even other job adverts, or you can discuss and benchmark with other farmers.
- Review salaries or wages every 12 months. Remember, both cash and non-cash items have value and can be included in these discussions. Discuss any changes (or the lack of) with your employee.
- Monitor legislation - If you pay your employees close to the minimum wage, adjust their pay rate accordingly when the minimum wage increases, usually on 1 April every year.