A quick look at the history books shows Agstaff has now been operating for nearly 20 years.
In that time we’ve seen a lot of changes on the land and also in the recruitment industry including how we work with our clients to bring you a consistent and reliable service. To recap the evolution of minimum wage and how we’ve all worked with that we look back to when we started in 2001 and the minimum wage was $7.70 per hour. We made a decision and thought if a person is not worth $10.00, we don’t employ them so applied the $10 per hour figure as our own minimum.
Since then we’ve had four Prime Ministers and three governments in or the order of Labour, National, and now back to Labour. Since those early days many new provisions have entered the labour market in support of the employee which all carry on-costs. Some of those changes include:
Based on the above, the on-costs per hour to employ a person has increased by 50% per hour and to top this off the minimum wage has increased by a staggering 230%
So, unfortunately, to cover our employment and business costs we must increase our rates again to $26.00 per hour.
Over this period although our on-costs have increased by 50% and wage rates of 230%, our charge out rate has only increased by 193%
A new change you will need to consider for your permanent staff is Domestic Violence Leave and Flexible Working provisions are also available from this week. These are benefits made available to anyone who has suffered or is supporting a child who has suffered from domestic violence (and that term is defined very widely). The annual benefits provided are up to an additional 10 days paid leave and a right to request up to 2 months on varied days/hours/location.
Recruiting new staff has also seen significant increases in terms of marketing with a huge demand for seasonal staff across NZ. As you know well, we strive not to compromise on the quality of our staff even in the hardest of times as this just creates problems for us all. We endeavour to keep the welfare of our existing staff and the quality of new staff at the utmost standard and for that an increase in price is an apparent necessity.
I will be in contact to make a time to catch up and discuss how Agstaff can continue to offer value and a cost-effective solution for your business and staffing requirements.