Living Wage lessons from New Zealand

My father's motto when running his business was to pay his workers more than the competition so they wouldn't steal or use up his precious work time doing unproductive activities. He had employee's that started out with him and were still there when he eventually sold the business because he valued them. He trusted his workers and encouraged their input when things needed to change. He paid them a "living wage".
A month ago we returned from a fabulous trip to New Zealand where the concept of a “living wage” is engrained in Kiwi society. Our introduction to this way of living came when we ordered our first meal. When we tried to tip the waitress after receiving our bill, she was not only insulted by the offer of compensation she went on to explain to us that tips were unnecessary in New Zealand because everyone was paid a “living wage”.
The reasoning behind a “living wage” is that if worker's have no time for their families or their communities because they have to work two and three jobs to survive it is a detriment to the nation as a whole. And certainly it doesn't take spending much time in New Zealand to see that the country hum's along quite nicely.
We never saw homeless people on the streets, beggars or even squalid housing. In the poorer sections we saw very small homes that people seemed to take pride in. There was no garbage on the streets or junk cars lying about. The roads were well maintained and even the unsealed(dirt)roads were better than we find here. There was real pride in their nation and a seemingly communal effort to keep New Zealand desirable for rich and poor alike.
i think we have lost that focus in America. The every man for himself motto has turned many away from community and the nation and divided us into camps that want to preserve something that has already been lost.
Talk now on the political web revolves around those promoting minimum wage and those against it. MIT has a living wage calculator on line that can be used to understand how much a person would need to live in a particular area in the nation with just the basics. http://livingwage.mit.edu/ and just to add to the conversation i've reprinted from the New Zealand governments web site their approach to minimum wage and note that they are reviewed every year.

Note the Fern carving in the yard

There are three minimum wage rates in New Zealand:

• The adult minimum wage applies to all employees aged 16 and over who are not starting-out workers or trainees, and all employees who are involved in supervising or training other employees.
• The starting-out wage applies to starting-out workers. Starting-out workers are:
  • 16- and 17-year-old employees who have not yet completed six months of continuous employment with their current employer.
  • 18- and 19-year-old employees who have been paid a specified social security benefit for six months or more, and who have not yet completed six months continuous employment with any employer since they started being paid a benefit. Once they have completed six months continuous employment with a single employer, they will no longer be a starting-out worker, and must be paid at least the adult minimum wage rate.
  • 16- to 19-year-old employees who are required by their employment agreement to undertake industry training for at least 40 credits a year in order to become qualified.
• The training minimum wage applies to employees aged 20 years or over who are doing recognised industry training involving at least 60 credits a year as part of their employment agreement, in order to become qualified.
  

There is no minimum wage for employees aged under 16 but all other employment rights and entitlements still apply. When looking at whether an employee who is 16 years or older is a starting-out worker, any time spent employed by an employer before the employee turned 16 must be included when calculating the time that employee has been continuously employed.
Employers and employees may agree to any wage rate as long as it is not less than the applicable minimum wage rate. Starting-out workers must be paid at least the minimum starting-out wage rate, and trainees over 20 years of age must be paid at least the training minimum wage rate.
A small number of people hold an exemption from the minimum wage (see the section about minimum wage exemptions).
The minimum wage rates are reviewed every year. The current adult minimum wage rates (before tax) that apply for employees aged 16 or over are:

• $13.75 an hour, which is
• $110.00 for an 8-hour day or
• $550.00 for a 40-hour week.
  

The minimum rates that apply to starting-out workers, and employees on the training minimum wage (before tax), are:

• $11.00 an hour, which is
• $88.00 for an 8-hour day or
• $440.00 for a 40-hour week.
  

Employees have to be paid at least the minimum hourly wage rate for any extra time worked over eight hours a day or 40 hours a week.

Hot water beach and in some spots it was scalding

Personally i think as a nation we need to talk more about community, living wages, the homeless and our failures even as we go on believing we are a wealthy nation but continue to close our eyes to how we are falling apart. Money is not everything...quality of life means more of us, rich and poor, like in New Zealand, can take pride in our country and live decent lives.

See ya next time!

Green Mussels