Minimum pay to rise in living wage plans

Ministers say the minimum wage will rise to £13 per hour from April 2025

Key elements of plans for a living wage in Jersey have been announced.

The Council of Ministers confirmed the minimum wage was due to rise from £11.64 to £13 per hour from 1 April 2025.

This was in preparation for April 2026, when the council said it would set the new minimum as a "living wage" - the amount considered necessary to meet living costs - as two thirds of the 2024 median wage.

Patrick Lynch, from the charity Caritas Jersey, said it was "great" the minimum wage was going up but added the rise would come after the "most expensive time of the year".

'Important priority'

He said the 2026 living wage was positive, but he described it as a "fudge" the amount would be "two thirds of the median for 2024" - which would make it "two years out of date".

"We are in a better place than we were eight months ago, but it does mean we won't have a living wage for all by the next election," he said.

Meanwhile, he said they had seen an "exponential rise" in food bank use by people whose "wages don't get them to the end of the month" due to the "huge increase in the cost of living".

The Council of Ministers said it had also proposed a £20m package to help employers and staff during the transition.

Lyndsay Feltham, minister for social security, said: "The transition to a living wage is an important priority of this government as it directly supports many in our community who are most likely to be struggling with the cost of living.

"We are staging the transition over two years, and providing some temporary support measures to employees during that time."

She said a £20m package of financial support measures would help employers adjust to a higher minimum wage over the two years.

The package would include £6m towards productivity, £7m invested in the visitor economy and hospitality industry, £3m in support for training investment and more than £2m in additional support for the rural and marine economy, she said.

'Productive and resilient'

Kirsten Morel, minister for sustainable economic development, said the package would help organisations "invest in themselves" and help Jersey "move to a more productive and resilient economy".

Further details of the package would be announced in the coming weeks and would come into effect before the new minimum wage was introduced on 1 April 2025, he added.