DAIRY 101 WAGES
Minimum wage rise no joke
Story and photos by: Karen Trebilcock
Story and photos by: Karen Trebilcock
I
f you didn’t realise, the minimum wage went up from $18.90 to $20/ hour on April 1. Far from being an April Fool’s joke, it was the start of the financial year for many businesses, but not farmers. If you’re a farm owner with sharemilkers or contract milkers you may think it won’t affect you but it does. The profitability of their business, and so yours, just took a hit. Back in 2015 the minimum wage was $14.25. That’s about a 40% increase if my maths is right. For farm staff, employees must be paid at least the minimum wage for every hour they work on farm whether they are employed on an hourly rate or on a salary and it can’t be averaged out over a season. If you pay weekly it has to be weekly, if you pay fortnightly it has to be fortnightly but if you pay monthly it still has to be for a fortnight. Two weeks is the most you can average the hours out over. 86
“…. you can’t give them a load of firewood or some meat in the freezer to compensate for a late night milking because the power was out.” If you have employed a staff member on a salary, the number of hours they can work for that salary have now been reduced. Someone on $40,000/year can now only work 38 hours a week, on $50,000/year they can work 48 hours a week. If they work more hours than that then you have to pay them more. And no, you can’t give them a load of firewood or some meat in the freezer to compensate for a late night milking because the power was out. The minimum wage has to be paid in real money.
DEDUCTIONS AND BREAKS
Such things as housing, firewood and meat
Staff must be paid for 10 minute breaks after more than two hours is worked – time for a coffee and some breakfast.
can be deducted from the wages if the employee agrees to it first and it has to be recorded separately on the employment contract. It also has tax implications so always talk to your accountant about it.
Dairy Exporter | www.nzfarmlife.co.nz | June 2021
