Almost half of hospitality staff in Jersey paid below the living wage

Almost half of hospitality staff in Jersey are paid below the living wage, according to a recent report by Statistics Jersey.

40 percent of those working in hotels, restaurants and bars earned less than £12.19 per hour in June 2023.

Industry experts say that some hospitality workers receive benefits which are not mentioned in the study: such as subsidised meals and accommodation, as well as receiving customer tips.

Despite Jersey's minimum wage rising to £10.50 per hour in January 2023, wholesale and retail trades saw 36% of their employees earning less than the living wage, as well as 43% in the agriculture and fishing industries.

On the other end of the scale, fewer than 1% of people who work in finance and legal activities, as well as those in electricity, gas and water supply, earned below the living wage.

Statistics Jersey's report also found that average earnings had fallen in real terms by 2.8% across the last year, largely due to an increase in inflation.

The data shows that since 2020, real term earnings have decreased by 4.6%.

Public sector earnings specifically fell further than the Jersey average, with a 3.2% decrease in real term pay, despite a 7.4% increase in nominal public sector earnings.

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