Canadian Labour Reporter

CANADIAN LABOUR REPORTER 7 Canadian HR Reporter, a Thomson Reuters business 2014 Continued from page 1 John Kieffer (Carswell Media) decision and minimum wage has been determined (on) an ad hoc basis. We wanted to ensure that the manner in which we determine minimum wage is fair for Ontarians who live on minimum wage and predictable for businesses that create jobs in our economy." A raise in minimum wage has a huge effect on employers, CFIB senior policy analyst Nicole Troster said, and making those changes predictable is crucial to their success. "It's hugely important for employers to have adequate notice and to have some predictability in the system so that they can adjust their costs and their operations accordingly," she said. When minimum wage is raised, colleagues who earn more also expect an increase, Troster said. With wages for all employ- ees pushed up by minimum wage rates, employers are faced with additional payroll taxes as a result. "The amount of money that's available for all of this is basi- cally the same but all of a sudden you have these additional costs," Troster said. Employers often compensate for these addi- tional costs by reducing the number of positions available, lead- ing Troster to conclude that hikes in minimum wage "actually hurt the people it's supposed to help." Jerry Dias, Unifor's national president, calls this line of think- ing "nonsense." "It doesn't matter what is happening in the economy," Dias said, "employers will never, ever support workers get- ting an increase. That's just inherent in their philosophy. But the only way we can have an economy that works is when everybody can contribute." In order to accomplish that, Dias said, a more meaningful increase in minimum wage is needed. While he agreed tying future increases to the CPI would benefit both workers and em- ployers, Dias argued an increase of 75 cents is not enough to lift minimum wage workers above the poverty line. "Employees that are working today at $10.25 an hour are working and living well below the poverty levels," he said, sug- gesting minimum wage be raised to $14 per hour. "Fourteen dollars an hour is nothing wonderful by any stretch of the imagination but at least it'll take you above the poverty level." A hike to $14 per hour would make Ontario's minimum wage the highest in the country by more than 27 per cent. The recently announced raise to $11 brings Ontario's minimum wage in line with the current Canadian leader, Nunavut. Troster said the increase does not bode well for the province's ability to compete and predicted a raise to $14 an hour would prove disastrous for employers. "Ontario lost 39,000 jobs last December," she said. "Minimum wage hikes will do nothing to address those lost jobs or to con- tinue creating new ones. There are better mechanisms out there to help low-income earners." Troster suggested raising Ontario's basic personal exemption for income tax, which would allow employees to keep more of what they make, or investing in skills training to allow workers to leave minimum wage jobs behind on a more permanent basis. For now, the only thing that teen flipping burgers can count on is an extra 75 cents an hour and the guarantee that he'll be brought up by both sides as the debate on minimum wage wages on. At $11 per hour, Ontario's minimum wage will be tied with Nunavut for the highest in Canada, but it's still trailing far behind Australia's global leading rate. Above is a look at minimum wages around the world, converted to Canadian dollars. (Data compiled by Canadian HR Reporter.) Province calls new process 'fair, predictable'

• Cover