Disability sector consulted on minimum wage
Hon Carmel
Sepuloni
Minister for Social Development
and Disability Issues
Hon Iain
Lees-Galloway
Minister for Workplace
Relations and Safety
20 February
2019 PĀNUI PĀPĀHO
MEDIA
STATEMENT
Disability sector consulted on minimum
wage
Minister for
Disability Issues, Carmel Sepuloni, and Workplace Relations
Minister Iain Lees-Galloway today announced a plan to ensure
all disabled New Zealanders’ are paid at least the minimum
wage.
From mid-February, the Ministry for Social Development (MSD) and Ministry for Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) will undertake targeted consultation with the disability sector on a proposal to replace the Minimum Wage Exemption (MWE) scheme with a wage supplement.
“This Government is committed to building an economy that is growing and working for all of us – and that includes working New Zealanders with disabilities,” Carmel Sepuloni said.
“Currently around 900 disabled New Zealanders have a MWE permit. Many of them are on extremely low wages - 70 per cent receive under $5 per hour for their work.
“The disability sector has called on the Government to end discrimination against disabled people at work, while protecting job opportunities.
“We’re proposing a wage supplement approach that continues to provide disabled workers with job security and rewarding work, while ensuring every working age New Zealander receives at least the minimum wage.
“Disabled people have long told us ‘nothing about us without us’. They need to know that we have heard that loud and clear,” Carmel Sepuloni said.
Minister for Workplace Relations, Iain Lees-Galloway says the consultation process will contribute to greater understanding of the rights of disabled people amongst the public, government and non-government sector.
“This is a government that recognises the value of every New Zealander and backs all of our people.
“This consultation is about looking at ways the Government can support employers to take on workers with disabilities, rather than a system that penalises people with disabilities because they want to work,” Iain Lees-Galloway said.
Targeted consultation with the disability sector will take place from mid-February until mid-April 2019.
Further information: The Cabinet Paper associated with this announcement can be found here
Note to editors:
How does a wage supplement
work?
Key components of
the proposed wage supplement approach include that:
• it would be accessible by the same
group that is currently accessing the Minimum Wage
Exemption, and those who would be eligible for it in the
future
• the government will meet the
cost of paying the wage supplement
•
it would be paid to employers with respect to eligible
employees, and employers would then pay their disabled staff
minimum wage
• the application process
would include a criteria check to ensure it is not being
used to subsidise wage costs for a broader group than
intended
• unlike other employment
supports, a wage supplement would not be for a set period of
time, but would continue for as long as the disabled person
is assessed as eligible
• MSD and MBIE
will seek feedback from targeted disability sector
stakeholders on the design of the wage supplement approach,
including the methods of calculating and paying the wage
supplement. Consultation will help identify the level of
support for change to the MWE and a wage supplement
approach. Assuming a wage supplement approach is supported,
the feedback we receive on the design will be used to
further refine the proposed approach and ensure it is fit
for purpose.