Introduction
Over the years, Canada has witnessed an increase in its minimum wage, a situation that has affected aspects of employment and poverty in the North American country. The Canadian Employment Standards Act provides regulatory mechanisms that cover diverse matters, including minimum wages. The minimum wage policy in the Employment Standards Act provides stipulations regarding the least hourly and daily earnings for workers in different job types. The policy seeks to stabilize the minimum wage relative to the average hourly earnings for various workers in Canada. Therefore, this paper critically analyzes the minimum wage policy in Canada as provided for in the Employment Standards Act.
Purpose of the Policy
The minimum wage policy in Canada seeks to achieve various purposes of the Employment Standards Act. While Berry (2013) paints a rather worrying picture where the last three decades have been marked by wage inequalities that have left Canadians discontented, Tipton, Milligan, and Reilly (2013) offer a relieving opinion that is anchored on the country’s minimum wage policy. Berry (2013) reveals poverty as among the devastating impacts of wage disparities in Canada, a situation that may be linked to the push for reforms in the country’s employment sector. In response, according to Tipton et al. (2013), the minimum wage policy was put in place to counter the rising poverty level by ensuring that employees in Canada experienced the basic standards of compensation and employment conditions. In my opinion, the minimum wage policy not only enhances the fair treatment of employees but also facilitates the development of an efficient and productive workforce that can fully contribute to the country’s prosperity. Although the two authors above agree that the minimum wage policy seeks to stabilize the compensation received by employees in the Canadian economy by upholding the essence of fairness, they do not capture its overall aim of helping employees to attain their work and family responsibilities.
Values Upheld by the Policy
Based on the 2017 amendments concerning the Canadian Employment Standards Act (2018), the hourly minimum wage of $11.35 was arrived at to ensure that employees, including resident caretakers, liquor servers, and farmworkers receive reasonable compensation. This article is comparable to Tipton et al.’s (2013) work since both emphasize the issue of fairness. In other words, the realization of fairness in the remuneration of employees in Canada curbs exploitation thereby promoting equality. The policy assumes that employees in various fields deserve a minimum wage that is reasonable and fair, regardless of the nature of the job they perform. The policy reflects on the ideology that employers should pay employees the required minimum wage as stipulated in the regulations. In my opinion, the prescriptions of the minimum wage policy allow the power to operate in the industrial sector by making it mandatory for employers to pay employees fairly.
The Wider Social Contexts of People’s Lives
The minimum wage policy in Canada takes into account the wider social contexts of employees’ lives. As noted earlier, the Employment Standards Act ensures that employees strike a balance between their work and family responsibilities. Meer and West (2016) emphasize that employees get reasonable hourly or daily wages that allow them to sustain their families. Although one may argue that the improved hourly and daily minimum wages allow employees to have disposable income for social expenditures, I regard the example of the minimum wage adjustment done to arrive at the figure indicated in the Employment Standards Act (2018) as insignificant since it does not match the country’s rate of inflation. Nonetheless, I concur with Meer and West (2016) that the policy incorporates the social contexts of employees’ lives by stipulating the minimum wage that enables them to fulfill their work and collective responsibilities.
Beneficiaries of the Policy
Berry (2013) asserts that the minimum wage policy seeks to benefit the entirety of employees in the Canadian economy. It benefits employees working in all areas of employment, including agriculture. For example, it covers resident caretakers, farmworkers, and liquor servers. However, since an update of the policy denotes an increase in the minimum wage in Canada, employers may consider the option of reducing hiring people, especially those paid at an hourly rate. In my judgment, this move may be counterproductive since employment among teenagers would decrease given that they are mostly compensated at an hourly rate. Thus, the policy “leaves out” teenagers who are paid at an hourly rate, although one may argue in favor of Sen and Ariizumi’s (2013) opinion that a decrease in the level of earnings among adolescents will also lower cases of early marriages associated with young people who receive substantial minimum wages.
Discrepancies
Amid the purpose of the minimum wage policy, some discrepancies undermine its achievement in the contemporary socio-political climate. For example, critics such as Fortin and Lemieux (2015) have questioned the ability of the prescribed minimum wages to provide workers with adequate income to support themselves. I believe that the lack of a clear purpose makes it difficult for workers to understand the primary aim of the minimum wage policy, owing to the inadequacy of the rates to fully support workers. Furthermore, politicians in the current settings promise to increase the minimum wage once elected for particular positions. In this respect, despite Fortin and Lemieux’s (2015) opinion that the current socio-political environment makes it difficult for the policy to realize its purpose, I concur with Berry (2013) who offers fact-based views that depict an increasing discontentment among the wider Canadian working population, including graduates below 35 years of age.
People’s Quality of Life
The minimum wage policy applied in Canada impacts the population’s quality of life to a considerable extent. Overall, the policy seeks to improve the population’s living standards by ensuring that workers receive reasonable compensation. The increased rates imply that people working in Canada could have a higher purchasing power that allows them to acquire goods and services that raise their living standards (Meer & West, 2016). By facilitating the development of the country’s workforce, I believe that the policy will realize a prosperous economy denoted by improved living conditions.
Nursing Ethical Obligations
The policy is expected to foster the realization of health equity by ensuring that people from various social strata acquire services without financial constraints (Fortin & Lemieux, 2015). However, Tipton et al. (2013) provide a convincing view that the minimum wage policy will enhance the quality of healthcare provision while at the same time promoting social justice by allowing individuals from diverse backgrounds to access health care. Therefore, I strongly believe that the minimum wage policy in Canada will foster the effective and efficient execution of nursing obligations in the country’s healthcare sector.
Conclusion
The minimum wage bill in Canada seeks to enhance workers’ well-being by improving their ability to support themselves. The policy also incorporates the social contexts of life by ensuring that employees realize equilibrium between their work and family responsibilities. As argued in the paper, although the policy does not benefit the entire workforce, for instance, teenagers, it has been integral in fostering the population’s quality of life.
References
Berry, R. A. (Ed.). (2013). Labor market policies in Canada and Latin America: Challenges of the new millennium. Boston, MA: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Employment Standards Act. (2018).Employment standards regulation. Web.
Fortin, N. M., & Lemieux, T. (2015). Changes in wage inequality in Canada: An interprovincial perspective. Canadian Journal of Economics, 48(2), 682-713.
Meer, J., & West, J. (2016). Effects of the minimum wage on employment dynamics. Journal of Human Resources, 51(2), 500-522.
Sen, A., & Ariizumi, H. (2013). Teen families, welfare transfers, and the minimum wage: Evidence from Canada. Canadian Journal of Economics, 46(1), 338-360.
Tipton, M. J., Milligan, G. S., & Reilly, T. J. (2013). Physiological employment standards I. Occupational fitness standards: Objectively subjective? European Journal of Applied Physiology, 113(10), 2435-2446.