Opposition Senator Damion Crawford has reiterated his call for the Government to put in place a special minimum wage structure for hospitality and call centre workers.

Crawford, who was making his contribution to the debate on the Appropriation Act, 2023 in the Senate on Friday, argued that this special arrangement ought to be considered as the nature of work of these categories of workers may require them to work longer hours than other employees.

He said that the special minimum wage now afforded to industrial security guards, who are paid for specific hours of work, could similarly be applied to hospitality workers, for instance, especially given that they cannot be guaranteed to work a 40-hour work week.

“It cannot be guaranteed, because if I am a waitress, and you are having a ball and you are enjoying yourself, can I say my time is up I’m going to leave? She cannot do that, she has to serve until [the event ends],” he said.

Last Thursday, Prime Minister Andrew Holness, in his budget presentation in Parliament, announced a 33 per cent increase in the minimum wage for security guards, taking salaries from $10,500 weekly to $14,000.

He also announced a 44 per cent increase in the national minimum wage, which will move from $9,000 per 40-hour work week to $13,000 per 40-hour work week.

Crawford contended that there would be times that the hospitality workers’ work week will actually be 48 to 52 hours, arguing that there is no true method of overtime for such workers.

“So because of that reality, paired with the reality that the industry is booming, then the participants within the industry should then get special consideration and it is employing so many people that a Government should be concerned and considerate,” he said, while noting that call centre workers should also be considered.

Crawford had first called for the special provision to be introduced in the hotel sector, last year, during his address at a combined People’s National Party (PNP) divisional and constituency conference in Hanover Eastern.

In the meantime, Crawford congratulated Prime Minister Holness “on being brave enough to make an appreciable increase in minimum wage”.

“I congratulate him, because I know the resistance that these changes in minimum wage would [bring],” he said.

He added that as a businessman seeking to maximise profits, he is concerned about increased costs, “however, as a citizen as well, I am also concerned about that person’s living standard who is willing to put effort in our economic activities”.

“There should be a minimum living standard for an individual willing to exert effort and business people who are of good intent are constrained by the market when there is a low minimum wage,” he said.

Crawford noted, however, that he believes that a “more logical and a more objective way to set the minimum wage” needs to be arrived at.

“We should have a system where it is an objective measure that every three years, you simply go to that objective measure, because it shouldn’t be up to people to say…what they should get and whims and fancy. It should be, I think, a mean wage,” he said.

The Appropriation Act, 2023, which outlines how the Government’s trillion 2023/24 budget will be spent, was later approved by the Senate.