Latest news with #wageincrease
Washington Post
an hour ago
- Business
- Washington Post
D.C. Council pauses scheduled $2 wage increase for restaurant workers
The D.C. Council on Tuesday paused a wage increase for tipped workers scheduled for next month, a move some lawmakers said would offer needed relief to a restaurant industry that has been struggling with rising overhead costs and federal spending cuts that have shaken the local economy. The 90-day pause, which eight council members voted to support while four opposed, would keep the tipped wage in the District at $10 per hour, preventing an increase to $12 that was set to go into effect July 1.
SBS Australia
12 hours ago
- Business
- SBS Australia
Minimum wage rise will deliver first above-inflation increase in years
Minimum wage rise will deliver first above-inflation increase in years Published 3 June 2025, 8:22 am Millions of Australian workers will pocket an above-inflation wage increase within weeks. The Fair Work decision is intended to correct a decline in real wages among the lowest paid, but employers are questioning whether it will be sustainable.
Daily Mail
17 hours ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Millions of Australian workers to secure 3.5% pay rise
Australia's 2.9million workers on awards have been given a 3.5 per cent increase that's well above inflation to help them deal with years of wages failing to keep pace with the cost-of-living crisis. The Fair Work Commission's increase, coming into effect on July 1, was above the headline inflation rate of 2.4 per cent and in between what was sought by employers and unions. But the annual wage review decision, affecting many low-paid workers, marked the weakest rise since 2021, when a 2.5 per cent increase was awarded and was less than last year's 3.75 per cent increase. It takes the full-time minimum weekly wage to $948, marking a $32.10 rise, as the minimum hourly pay goes up by 85 cents to $24.95. The decision will affect 2.7million Australians, or one in five workers, who are employed under one of 121 awards, along with the 180,000 people on the minimum wage. Low-paid workers in the retail, hospitality, healthcare and administrative support sectors are the key beneficiaries. Fair Work Commission president Adam Hatcher delivered the industrial umpire's decision at 10am on Tuesday, noting the low-paid are 'disproportionately female' and had suffered cuts in real wages adjusted for inflation until recently. 'The principal consideration, which has guided our decision, is the fact that since July 2021, employees who are reliant on modern award minimum wages or the national minimum wage have suffered a reduction in the real value of their wage rates,' he said. 'This reduction in real modern award wages and the national minimum wage has been a result of the spike in inflation which commenced in 2021 and peaked in late 2022. The result has been that living standards for employees dependent on modern award wages have been squeezed and the low paid have experienced greater difficulty in meeting their everyday needs.' Justice Hatcher, a Labor appointee, said that while other Fair Work Commission decisions were generous, the industrial umpire had been concerned about a wage-price spiral and had therefore only awarded previous increases in line with inflation. 'The continuation of this inflationary episode has meant that over the last three annual wage review decisions, the Fair Work Commission has repeatedly deferred taking any action to reverse this decline in real wages out of a concern that this might result in the persistence of higher inflation,' he said. The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the nation's biggest employer group, had argued for a 2.5 per cent increase that barely kept pace with inflation while the Australian Council of Trade Unions had argued for a 4.5 per cent rise. The latest increase is much smaller compared with recent years, given inflation has moderated since reaching a 32-year high of 7.8 per cent in late 2022. But it is a full percentage point higher than the headline inflation rate of 2.4 per cent. Employment and Workplace Relations Minister Amanda Rishworth said the Fair Work Commission decision was responsible, after the government argued for an increase that was above inflation that would give workers a meaningful real wage rise. 'Our government believes that workers should get ahead with an economically sustainable real wage increase,' she said. 'A real wage increase provides further relief to our lowest paid workers who continue to face cost-of-living pressures.' Under Labor, the minimum wage went up by 8.6 per cent in 2023 as awards rose by 5.75 per cent, which had been the biggest increase since 1990. This followed a 5.2 per cent increase in 2022 that at the time had been the highest increase in the minimum wage since the mining boom in 2006. The headline and underlying rates of inflation are now within the Reserve Bank of Australia's two to three per cent target, giving it room to cut interest rates. This is something the Fair Work Commission noted. 'The Reserve Bank of Australia's assessment that inflation has sustainably returned to its target range of two to three per cent indicates that this inflationary episode is now over,' Justice Hatcher said. 'That provides us with an opportunity to go at least some of the way towards correcting what has happened over the last four years by awarding a real increase to modern award wages and the national minimum wage. We are concerned that if this opportunity is not taken in this annual wage review, the loss in the real value of wages which has occurred will become permanently embedded in the modern award system and the national minimum wage, and a reduction in living standards for the lowest paid in the community will thereby be entrenched.' With unemployment still low at 4.1 per cent, workers outside of awards have more leeway to bargain for higher wages. But weak productivity also means wage increases have to be passed on to customers, potentially feeding into inflation. The Australian Industry Group's chief executive Innes Willox slammed the latest 3.5 per cent increase in awards and the minimum wage at a time of weak productivity growth.
RNZ News
18 hours ago
- Business
- RNZ News
Australia's lowest paid workers to get above-inflation wage increase
Australia correspondent Nick Grimm spoke to Lisa Owen about the nation's Fair Work commission ruling Australia's lowest paid workers will recieve an above inflation wage increase, as well as long-term national study that has found a third of Australian men have used some form of intimate partner violence in their lifetime. To embed this content on your own webpage, cut and paste the following: See terms of use.
Free Malaysia Today
20 hours ago
- Business
- Free Malaysia Today
Australia raises minimum wages by 3.5% as inflation eases
The decision could help many workers recover lost real income from recent years affected by rising living costs. (Unsplash pic) SYDNEY : Australia's independent wage-setting body on Tuesday raised the national minimum wage by 3.5% effective July 1, a real wage increase for about 2.6 million workers on the lowest pay as inflationary pressures ease in the economy. The minimum rate will rise to A$24.94 (US$16.19) per hour, resulting in an extra A$1,670 in a year for full-time employees, according to the Fair Work Commission's (FWC) annual review. Headline consumer price inflation held at 2.4% in the first quarter, comfortably within the Reserve Bank of Australia's target band of 2% to 3% and having come down from the 7.8% peak in late 2022. FWC President Adam Hatcher said the decision could help many workers to recoup the loss of their real income over the last few years due to high living costs. 'If this opportunity is not taken in this annual wage review, a loss in the real value of wages which has occurred will become permanently embedded … and a reduction of living standards for the lowest paid in the community will thereby be entrenched,' Hatcher said. Last year, the FWC increased minimum wages by 3.75% but that was largely in line with inflation. The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) described the wage increase as 'a great outcome' for employees on minimum wages, who it said suffered the most when inflation soared after the Covid-19 pandemic. 'Our lowest-paid workers are getting ahead again,' ACTU secretary Sally McManus told reporters. The Reserve Bank of Australia cut interest rates to a two-year low last month as cooling inflation at home offered scope to counter rising global trade risks, and left the door open to further easing in the months ahead. At the same time, the labour market has remained surprisingly resilient, with the jobless rate hovering at 4.1% for over a year now. Employment gains have been driven by a surge in public sector jobs, with still tepid wage growth suggesting few risks of a damaging wage-price spiral.
