Concerns Raised Over Living Wage Discrimination

The chair of the Minimum Wage Committee has warned that some disabled islanders could find it harder to find work if the minimum wage aligns with the living wage.

However, the gov has said no evidence has been submitted to support that.

Anne Weadock expressed the committee’s concerns in a letter to Enterprise Minister Tim Johnston.

Tynwald has previously committed the gov to aligning the minimum wage and the living wage by April 2025, though the Manx Labour Party and Liberal Vannin Party have repeatedly called for this to be brought forward.

Having recommended an interim measure of increasing the island’s minimum wage, Ms Weadock said that the committee ‘feels that there could be significant impacts if the scales of increases proposed to achieve parity with the Living Wage are carried out in the timeframe required.’

She added: ‘The Committee is particularly concerned that certain disadvantaged groups, particularly some disabled workers, may move towards becoming uneconomically viable to employ, and the Committee would welcome changes to the support offered via Social Security.’

Replying to the concerns, Mr Johnston said that the DfE is ‘awaiting the outcomes from the deliberations of the impact assessment and Minimum Wage Committee review’.

He added: ‘The letter as it stands, presents no evidence to support those comments and we will review once the full findings and proposals have been published.’

The Minimum Wage Committee is an independent committee constituted of employer and worker representatives.