Job creation for private sector employers costs $284 million more a year
CALGARY, October 1, 2018 – With today’s $1.40 increase from $13.60 to a $15 an hour minimum wage in Alberta, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) released new research on the rapidly rising cost for employers to create entry-level jobs in the province.
According to CFIB’s analysis, provincial employers are facing a $10,739 increase annually per entry-level, minimum wage job compared to 2015 due to added wage costs and the higher payroll taxes (i.e. CPP, EI, WCB) that go along with it. That means a small business with 10 minimum wage employees will see their annual costs rise by more than $107,000 as a result of the government’s plan.
“Thanks to the government aggressively ratcheting up the legislated floor on wages, entry-level jobs have become much more costly for employers to create,” says Amber Ruddy, Alberta Director. “It’s simple economics. When the cost of hiring suddenly gets a lot more expensive, there will be less of it. The government’s plan has put current and future entry-level jobs at risk.”
The CFIB report estimates the rapid rise in the minimum wage to $15 an hour will cost private sector employers in the province an additional $284 million a year.
“Obviously, the rapid rise in minimum wage puts a big squeeze on small businesses that have entry-level positions” says Ruddy. “That means fewer opportunities for young people to get their foot in the door, and gain the valuable work and life experience that comes from having that first job.”
“Perhaps worst of all, the aggressive march to a $15 minimum wage happened during the deepest recession in a generation, and yet the government didn’t take its foot off the accelerator one bit,” concludes Ruddy.
CFIB continues to call on the AB Government to release economic impact analysis related to hiking the minimum wage to $15, and show how it will reduce poverty as claimed.
CFIB is Canada’s largest association of small- and medium-sized businesses with 110,000 members across every sector and region, including 10,000 in Alberta