THE national minimum wage is now $16,000 per 40-hour workweek or $400 per hour, moving from $15,000.

Similarly, the minimum wage for industrial security guards has increased from $15,000 to $16,000 per 40-hour workweek, or $400 per hour.

There will be no change to the allowances or insurance benefits prescribed under the industrial security guard order.

This means that laundry allowance will remain at $52.38 per hour, firearm premium allowance will remain at $57.15 per hour, dog handler’s premium allowance will remain at $39.29 per hour, and life insurance coverage with double indemnity protection and dismemberment coverage will remain at $3,273,000.

In a statement to the House of Representatives last Tuesday when two orders — the National Minimum Wage (Amendment) Order, 2025 and the Minimum Wage (Industrial Security Guards) (Amendment) Order, 2025 — that gave legal effect to the increases in the national minimum wage and the minimum wage for industrial security guards were tabled for approval, Minister of Labour and Social Security Pearnel Charles Jr noted that the orders represent Government’s fulfilment of its responsibility to ensure fair compensation and to advance the well-being of Jamaica’s working class.

“I’m deeply aware of the pressures faced by minimum wage earners [such as] the rising costs of transportation, food [and] other issues that are daily challenges. These workers are not statistics to us. They are the caregivers; they are the shop assistants; they’re the cleaners, the watchmen and women who keep our society moving. Their sacrifices demand more than gratitude, they demand our action — and this Government is taking action,” the minister affirmed.

He emphasised that while the minimum wage is a legal floor, it must not become a moral ceiling.

“We take the opportunity, as we have done all the time, to encourage and to call on employers with the means to do more to invest in your workers. When you treat them fairly they will return that fairness with loyalty and performance,” Charles Jr encouraged.

— JIS News

Minister of Labour and Social Security Pearnel Charles Jr presents a statement in the House of Representatives on Tuesday, May 20. (Photo: JIS)