The 5.1% wage rise that the small business lobby is worried about would equal less than a dollar an hour after tax.
The national minimum wage is $772.60 per week, for a 38 hour week, or $20.33 per hour. 5.1% on the per hour minimum wage is $1.04, however with 19c of tax taken out this equals $0.84 per hour in the pockets of minimum wage employees.
Now the small business lobby has appeared on ABC’s The Drum last night complaining about the 0.1% super increase from July 1 which they say will also add to their labour costs. However, in most cases, super increases are taken out of the take home pay of employees and not added on top like a bonus.
It appears as though the business lobby is Australia will cry foul at any attempt to increase wages for Australia’s poorest workers.
Callum Foote was a reporter for Michael West Media for four years.