Minimum wage committee to start random survey

| 13/11/2014

(CNS): Officials from the Minimum Wage Advisory Committee (MWAC) are urging the public to go on-line or respond to ESO officials who will be randomly selecting businesses and households to complete a minimum wage survey before the 1 December deadline. Although the survey has been online since October it appears that not enough people have responded to enable officials to get sufficient data. In order to get a reputable sample size statisticians and trained survey workers from the Economics and Statistics Office (ESO) will conduct a survey beginning  next week. It will cover 285 businesses in construction, wholesale and retail, restaurants and mobile food services, as well as 1,400 households.

The public are asked to cooperate with the representatives from ESO and provide the necessary information, which will be collected under the Statistics Law (2011 Revision), officials said. The data collected will be used to help formulate the evidence-based recommendations that the Minimum Wage Advisory Committee will provide in its report which is due to Cabinet in February 2015.

The first phase of the public consultation on the introduction of a minimum wage below which no person should be required to work was launched in October. To begin with the public was asked to complete specifically designed surveys on line and volunteers have also taken part in focus groups. During phase two which starts in the New Year the public will be invited to a series of open public meetings as well.

In the meantime, it is hoped the random survey will boost the responses. Officials said each interviewer will work under an oath of secrecy, and all information collected will be kept strictly confidential. All interviewers carry photo identification which should be easily visible, and respondents are advised to request identification from any interviewer before sharing information. If individuals or businesses have already completed these surveys on-line, then they should not complete them again if contacted by representatives from ESO.

The MWAC offered thanks to the public for taking part as the introduction of a minimum wage is they said of “national importance and will affect everyone living in the Cayman Islands.”

The MWAC can be contacted by email at minimumwage@gov.ky or by telephone at 244-3151. The online survey can be found at www.education.gov.ky/minimumwage.

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  1. Anonyanmous says:

    Just stop right now, no more surveys, either you pay a mininum wage or you don't. Simple soultion to a minimum wage is go to the grocery store take a basket of the basic goods (Water, Bread, Milk, Sugar, etc) that anyone who lives in a first world country need sto live off for a day add it up and this should be a basic indication of how much it cost for a person to live in Cayman for a day.  Other than that try the 3rd world method in some countries people can live off $1.00 per day on even half of that. We should ask ourselves is that the kind of society we want here? Don't get a minimum wage and we will see how fast we will be third world and beyond, it's already happening folks look a the daily robbries don't believe there is not a direct correlation.  This did not happen when people were well paid, fed and employed, wake up political leaders and do the right thing.

    • Anonymous says:

      A graduate of the University of Life who majored in Plain Common Sense.  And that is not a compliment. 

  2. RP says:

    "Although the survey has been online since October it appears that not enough people have responded to enable officials to get sufficient data."

    Could it be that this is not one of the main reasons for local unemployment as the politicians want to make us think? I would think we would have all 2000 unemployed providing feedback? What is really going on?  How many of the 2000 have registered with NWDA? And how many of those registered are truly ready, willing and able to seek employment?  No minimum wage will make someone who is not ready, willing and able obtain employment.  Before minimum wage lets really figure out the true extent of our unemployment problem. Understand the problem and then let's talk possible solutions.

     

    • Anonymous says:

      Are you actually suggesting that you need to know what the problem is first before finding a solution.  That is not the Caymanian way.

  3. Bling Man says:

    I nah get nothin when i clik on that.

  4. R. U. Shur says:

    I just tried the address           http://www.education.gov.ky/minimumwage.      

    This is what I got             Not Found  The requested URL /minimumwage. was not found on this server.