[Dion]

Employers call for 'youth differential' as Alberta's minimum wage hits $15 an hour

When the Alberta government announced in June 2016 its intention to move toward a $15 an hour minimum wage, it issued a news release containing quotes from James Boettcher.

Boettcher, the CEO of Calgary’s Fiasco Gelato, was held up by the government as an example of a business owner in favour of a “fair living wage” — someone who believed it is possible to pay employees enough to get by on, while still operating a successful business.

However, he’s no poster boy for the Notley government’s minimum wage policy. In fact, even at the time his name was being printed on that news release, Boettcher had serious concerns about the NDP’s $15 an hour plan, which comes into force Monday. Those concerns have only deepened in recent months, to the point that Boettcher is now calling on the government to admit its minimum wage policy is “broken.”

“I think the government is trying to do the right thing, but they’ve missed the mark,” he said. “I’d like to see them admit they’ve made a mistake.”

Boettcher, whose company has been ranked among Canada’s fastest-growing companies for the past several years, doesn’t have a problem with a $15 minimum wage for adults who need to support themselves. In fact, he would like to see that minimum raised closer to $18, which is considered a “living wage” and is about where he starts his own adult employees.

What he can’t understand is why he must pay his teen employees — most of whom have no previous work experience and still live with their parents — the same rate. He said he believes employers who are forced to pay $15 an hour to “kids” will simply choose not to hire them, robbing young people of precious work experience in the process.

“It’s going to be very hard for an employer, even one like me who wants to provide opportunity to young people,” he said. “You get a stat holiday and all of a sudden you’re paying a kid — who’s living at home and is just saving money for a new bicycle or a family trip to Hawaii — $23, $24 an hour.”

https://calgaryherald.com/business/l...ss/__trashed-6