Jersey's government urged to increase minimum wage to £10.10 an hour from January

Jersey's government has been advised to increase the minimum wage from £9.22 to £10.10 an hour in January next year.

The Employment Forum also recommends that there should be a single minimum wage rate for everyone above school-leaving age.

This would mean the end of the trainee year one and year two rates, which it says are "used very rarely."

It says the rates are "unsustainable" and scrapping them would ensure people "don't suffer undue financial detriment by changing careers, perhaps in their thirties or forties, and finding themselves being paid a trainee rate, below the level of the main minimum wage."

Currently, the wages for those on a trainee year one and year two stand at £6.91 and £8.07 respectively.

In June, Caritas Jersey called for the island's new government to introduce a living wage of £11.27.

A living wage is a minimum income thought to be necessary for a person to meet their basic needs.

However, the Employment Forum said: "For most sectors of the economy, the legal minimum wage rate has been superseded by rates of pay that reflect the tightness of the labour market."

In many cases, this has "pushed up earnings beyond the current Caritas-recommended living wage rate in Jersey of £11.27 an hour," it added.

The Pavilion eatery opened its doors for the first time on Tuesday. Owner Zara Craymer has chosen to pay all of her staff the Living Wage.