Minimum wage to go up $1 an hour on April 1

A larger than expected raise is on the way for Nova Scotians making minimum wage.

The province announced Thursday it would be boosting the rate by $1 an hour on April 1, pushing it up to $12.55, which is the largest increase in a decade.

The hourly rate had been slated to rise by 55 cents to $12.10 this year, following a recommendation by the minimum wage review committee in late 2018.

However Minister of Labour, Labi Kousoulis, said the extra 45 cents is meant to offset the elimination of the partial hour rule. Under the system, employers are required to round up minutes for minimum wage earners.  

This means if an employee works for 15 to 30 minutes, they must be paid for a half hour and if they work 31 minutes, an employer has to pay them for a full hour.

“It was a manual calculation and payroll systems could not handle it because it was very convoluted,” Kousoulis explained. “We were the last province that had partial hours in the country. One company we had to lay a $70,000 penalty on because they were not following the rules so they actually had to go back and back pay.”

Nova Scotia will also be getting rid of inexperienced minimum wage, which allows employers to pay staff with less than three months' experience at a lower rate.

The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) released a statement saying it is extremely disappointed by today's announcement.

The organization's vice-president for Atlantic Canada, Jordi Morgan, said this will place a burden on small businesses, who had been budgeting for the 55 cent increase.

“That approach of providing predictability has been thrown out the window,” he said in a news release. “This is not in line with the government's previous commitment nor recommendations by the minimum wage review. I believe this will erode trust between this government and small business owners.”

Morgan added, with only 60 days notice, employers may be forced to decrease staffing hours, raise their prices or even lay some workers off to make ends meet.

However, an anti-poverty activist believes the hike doesn't go far enough. Jodi Brown with the Benefits Reform Action Group says $12.55 is far from a livable wage in the Halifax Regional Municipality.

“We're not winning unless we're all winning,” Brown said. “It's not going to hurt someone to give them a livable wage.”

“If we start paying people what they deserve and what they need to live, you're going to see health costs come down, you're going to see people take more pride in their homes, everything would go up. I don't understand why anybody wouldn't be for this.”

Premier Stephen McNeil said Nova Scotia's economy is growing, but added more work needs to be done to make sure everyone can benefit from the boom.

“We know there's more steps towards ensuring all of our citizens enjoy the success of a growing economy and our budget will reflect that,” he told reporters Thursday.