National minimum wage increases to $15,000 weekly in June

The national minimum wage will be increased from $13,000 to $15,000 per 40-hour work week, effective 1 June 2024, representing a 15 per cent increase. Prime Minister the Most Hon. Andrew Holness made the announcement during his contribution to the 2024/25 Budget Debate in the House of Representatives on 21 March. “We had also signaled last year that we intended to do away with this business of having different minimum wages for our industrial security guards and everyone else. The minimum wage for industrial security guards will move from $14,000 per week to $15,000 per week, and this will take effect 1 from June 2024”, he added.

The Prime Minister said that the Government had considered the adjustment very carefully and decided it was necessary to do so to keep the working class and the poorest abreast of inflation. “We have to look out for the poor and most vulnerable in society. There is certainly, at the lower end of the society in terms of the working poor, real challenges. So, in presenting this Budget, we looked at how we can support every sector of the society, and I believe the Budget presented has touched almost every sector of the society”, Holness said. “We have touched pensioners, we have touched public-sector workers, we have touched people who want to own homes, we have touched the poor, and we have touched the vulnerable. We have done as best as we could without being fiscally reckless. I believe we have presented to the people of Jamaica, a good Budget,” he added.

The Prime Minister had made a similar announcement in his Budget presentation last year when he announced that the minimum wage would be increased from $9,000 to $13,000 per 40-hour workweek, effective 1 June 2023, while the minimum wage for industrial security guards would move from $10,500 per week to $14,000, also effective 1 June.