The minimum wage will increase by 75 cents to $16.50 per hour from 1 April 2018. This is in line with the current governments election promises. According to the government 164,000 workers will see increased wages and the benefits of the increase outweigh the costs.

The government has also promised to abolish starting-out rates within a year and will consider changes to the training wage. In its coalition agreement with NZ First, Labour is committed to raising the minimum wage to $20 an hour by April 2021.

We will have to wait and see the effects of current increase and if the benefits promised eventuates, however large companies such as Sky City have already committed to $20 an hour minimum wage by 2020.

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