And now for something completely different… my thoughts on the minimum wage in Jersey, and why I support it

A minimum wage - no matter your opinion on how, or who sets it, is surely better than none?

This blog post will definitely stand out from our usual offerings, but I have decided that it’s really important for me - as a small business owner and someone who lives in Jersey - not to hide away from saying something if I really believe in it - so here goes…

Common minimum wage roles, such as those in retail, hospitality, healthcare and farming teach you skills that few others can. They teach you the art of a poker face, of resilience. They teach you that sometimes someone can be having a bad day, and your interaction with them can turn that around… or that they can be having a bad day and they want an argument with you because of it. Sometimes people are rude, sometimes people confide in you as though they are saying things aloud for the first time; a new pregnancy, the loss of a parent, a cancer diagnosis. No two days are ever the same. 

When I first opened my shop I had no expectation that I would be able to employ a team. It was just me. Over the years I have seen my team grow and flourish - I am proud of what my business has enabled, and the growth I have seen in all my staff. I benchmark regularly. I offer incentives. I value my team enormously - they make the business what it is. We pay minumum wage to all our team (including under eighteens) and living wage and above to all team members over twenty-one.

Regular benchmarking is key because Jersey is an expensive place to live; whilst I appreciate that some may consider it not to be the role of government to set minimum wage, I would argue, if not them then who? Caritas already run a scheme where employers can voluntarily sign up to promise living wage rates for all over eighteen, but this is, as it already says, voluntary. 

There is no perfect formula to set a minimum wage - I do not pretend to be an economist. However A minimum wage is surely better than NO minimum wage. We do not want to leave a vacuum that allows a race to the bottom or worse - exploitation.  One could argue that there will always be a benchmark minimum wage without government mandate, but we must never rely on people’s necessity to work to set it. A counter argument, of course, is that the existence of a minimum wage can work against the very people it is designed to help - specifically, that higher minimum wages can lead to fewer jobs as budgets are set, leading to more people becoming unemployed. I would argue that Jersey essentially runs at full employment relative to UK standards, and as a result in a tight labour market it is less likely to cause disemployment effects.

I would also argue, that almost all minimum wage jobs cannot be done without people. In a world where AI is increasingly enabling swathes of industry to become automated, retail, cleaning, hospitality, healthcare  - roles that often pay minimum wage at entry level - cannot be replaced by algorithms and automations. They are about human interaction, about nuance. Sometimes they are about kindness or communication. Even if it’s ‘just’ someone buying a pint of milk, it may be the only human interaction in their day. Those interactions matter, enormously. The compassion of a nurse or doctor, the casual ‘how are you today?’when you order a coffee, isn’t something that we should ever dismiss or diminish the value of.

I’m not writing this as a criticism against other people’s opinions, nor do I wish to pitch myself against politicians or employers with a differing opinion to mine - what I want to give is an alternative viewpoint, one that I have always stood by as an employer, and will continue to do so; we are lucky enough to live somewhere where it is safe to articulate differing viewpoints. All I can do is voice what I think. I think that hospitality, retail and healthcare industries are among the most undervalued that we have, and yet are seen by many as ones where staff costs should be forced down as they are considered ‘unskilled’. These jobs underpin our society and, if a business cannot afford to pay its staff a wage that enables them to live - whether they agree with how it is set or not - then it is not really a business at all, because, put simply there IS a minimum rate when somebody is selling you their labour, and that for want of a better way of determining it, a government mandated minimum wage is an excellent place to start. Regardless of experience (or perceived lack of), EVERYONE has a right to earn a minimum wage for their time and labour.

Perhaps we have just forgotten how valuable the skills that have for so long have been called ‘soft’ are, both financially and societally. We must remember that all our employees are also customers, but more than that, they are our fellow islanders who deserve to earn enough to live here too.

PLEASE DO NOT REPUBLISH OR LIFT QUOTES FROM THIS BLOG POST WITHOUT EXPRESS PERMISSION. CONTACT harriet@harrietandrose.co.uk TO DISCUSS.