A business group is warned against proposal to pay under 18s the same minimum wage as adults in Guernsey.
Guernsey's Employment and Social Security Committee recently released proposals to increase the adult minimum wage in line with inflation and make youth and adult pay rates the same from October 2026.
The Confederation of Guernsey Industry (CGI) says the proposed 4% rise for adults is “acceptable” but has raised concerns about aligning the youth and adult wage rates.
Guernsey's current minimum wage is £12.60 per hour for adults aged 18 and over, and £11.35 per hour for 16 and 17-year-olds.
The E&SS proposal would set both at £13.10 from October 2026.
CGI Chair Garin Dart says that, while effectively giving young workers a 15% pay rise sounds positive, it could make it harder for them to get hired.
"If you're paying the same amount of money for somebody that's got experience and somebody that hasn't got experience, then most employers will choose the person with experience over the person that doesn't.
"If people have worked in various places, they come with more common sense and aptitude for working in a working environment. And also, you have to spend less time mentoring them, which obviously has a cost.
"So I think it could be detrimental to the younger people to have the same wage alignment."
Mr Dart believes Employment and Social Security has not thought through the potential consequences, and is simply copying other jurisdictions.
"They've looked at Jersey, and this is what Jersey's doing, and I think they just want to align with Jersey.
"A lot of these things are not really thought through in terms of what's going on in the industry.
"It's based on what's happening in other regions, I think, rather than what the actual employees are thinking."
In Jersey the trainee minimum wage rate was scrapped in 2024, but was reinstated in September 2025 following pressure from the Jersey Chamber of Commerce.
It is currently set at £10.50 in year 1 and £11.75 in year two for workers on an approved training programme. Jersey's adult rate is £13.59.
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