On May 1st, new minimum wage rules came into effect, and further increases are set for November 1st. One of the more significant changes was the differential minimum rate for employees whose duties include serving liquor directly to customers. The increases in minimum wage also affected employees who are subject to alternate minimum wages (i.e. monthly minimum rates for care workers), and ‘piece rates’ for farm workers. The Employment Standards Branch has published some helpful Factsheets including Q & A’s on the new minimum wage rules which can be located as follows:

Minimum Wage – http://www.labour.gov.bc.ca/esb/facshts/pdfs/Minimum%20Wage%202011.pdf

Liquor Servers – http://www.labour.gov.bc.ca/esb/facshts/pdfs/Minimum%20Wage%20-%20Liquor%20Server.pdf

Farm Workers – http://www.labour.gov.bc.ca/esb/facshts/pdfs/farm-workers.pdf