The minimum wage will be increased by $0.75 to $16.50, the Government has announced. "The increase to $16.50 per hour will benefit approximately 164,000 workers and their families, and will increase wages throughout the economy by $129 million per year," he said. "Raising the minimum wage to $16.50 next year was one of the Government's top priorities for the first 100 days, and we are committed to increasing the minimum wage to $20 by 2021." "To that end, within the first 12 months of this Government's term we will abolish starting-out rates and consider changes to the training wage. In the meantime, these rates will continue to be at 80 per cent of the minimum wage, increasing to $13.20 per hour," he said.

Source: Otago Daily Times December 21, 2017 21:33 UTC