Amid concerns that there will be a delay in the implementation of the new minimum wage, Senator Kamina Johnson Smith has sought to reassure the public that the increase will be in effect on June 1.

The matter was brought up during a sitting of the Senate on Friday (May 26) when Opposition Senator Lambert Brown raised concerns that the increase would not be implemented in time.

During the meeting, Brown questioned why the matter was not brought before the Senate for affirmation ahead of the effective date.

“I would’ve hoped that when this motion was being contemplated that the motion for affirming the minimum wage order, which is due next Thursday for implementation, would have come to us at the same time so it doesn’t appear we are looking about the internal committee issues while ignoring the thousands of people who legally need to have the minimum wage order affirmed by both houses of Parliament,” said Brown.

However, Government Senator Johnson Smith said that the order didn’t need to be affirmed by the Senate. She further noted that the increase is gazetted and will be effective June 1.

“There could be nothing further from the truth that this Government is not keeping at the forefront of our minds the workers of Jamaica who are in receipt of the lowest pay. And in that context, I had already taken the opportunity to verify whether affirmation by this house was, in fact, necessary, which it is not. I have also affirmed that the order, which is effective June 1, was already gazetted. It was gazetted on Friday last.” said Johnson Smith.

Prime Minister Andrew Holness, who announced the increase in March, said Jamaica’s national minimum wage is to go by 44 per cent to $13,000 per 40-hour work week, effective June 1.

The minimum wage for industrial security guards will also move from J$10,500 per week to J$14,000.
The national minimum wage was last increased in April 2022.