Living Wage vs Minimum Wage

• Minimum wage setting systems have become an important policy issue for Employer and Business Member Organizations (EBMOs) in the Caribbean. Many employers are concerned that the current minimum wage setting systems lack evidence-based criteria and transparency, can sometimes become politicized, and can be influenced by outside misleading guidance. • Employer efforts to reform minimum wages should be guided by three principles, to make minimum wages more purposeful, productive and predictable. To integrate these principles into minimum wages setting, employers can advocate for process changes as well as the adoption of fix formulas or rules. • Many initiatives across the world seek to promote living wages through various mechanisms, including statutory minimum wages, collective bargaining, or voluntary mechanisms. Closing the living wage gap may require a set of measures that go beyond the sphere of wage policy alone. Employers should be well equipped to defend such argument during minimum wage negotiations. OBJECTIVES 1. Understand how minimum wages are determined and the socio-economic factors that should be considered in fixing or adjusting minimum wages 2. Get acquainted with global discussions on “living wage vs minimum wage” and employers’ positions on this issue 3. Use quantitative methodologies to calculate and adjust minimum wages 4. Formulate proposal to make minimum wage adjustment processes more predictable and in line with the national economic conditions. CONTENT The course was structured in 4 learning units. Each unit had self-paced modules, individual assignments and a 1.5 hour live seminar (held on Thursday every week): • Week 1. Understanding the Minimum Wage: definition, purpose, setting mechanism and trends in the Caribbean • Week 2: “Minimum wage vs. Living wage”: the ongoing debate and the employers’ position • Week 3: Methodologies for calculating and adjusting minimum wages. • Week 4. Getting ready for negotiations NUMBER OF HOURS: 12