Dear Editor,

Former Minister of Finance and the Public Service Dr Nigel Clarke warned the nation about the abuse of overtime.

Currently, approximately $4 out of every $10 earned in the country goes towards salaries, which is not good for our nation.

I suspect the private sector has much the same issue with overtime.

To get a company’s overtime total down more often than not the alternative is to hire more employees so the work can get done.

This may result in some seasoned employees leaving, as they cannot live on a regular pay; they survive on the overtime payments.

How do we ensure everyone is in balance without decreasing the amount of overtime?

Let’s try no tax on overtime.

Former and soon-to-be US President Donald Trump has “no tax on overtime” as one of his major economic policies for this 2024 election.

A policy like that is good news for the workers and employers. An employee doesn’t have to do a lot of overtime to survive.

The current minimum wage is $375 per hour in Jamaica; therefore, if a worker goes over 40 hours in a workweek that person will receive $562.50 per hour overtime at time and half.

I believe it is fair enough for the Government not to tax overtime for workers.

But let’s say that is not practical for all, then not taxing overtime for minimum wage earners or workers working under $3 million annually ought to be more practical, and will assist workers with truly benefiting from the overtime that is worked.

Teddylee Gray

Ocho Rios, St Ann

teddylee.gray@gmail.com