A subsidy designed to assist some Manitoba companies raise their salaries to succeed in the greater minimal wage has hardly been utilized.
Of the $6 million budgeted for the six-month program that began final October, the province has solely doled out $20,400 of the funds — or 0.3 per cent — to a complete of 108 companies, the federal government mentioned. This system remains to be working till the top of March, nevertheless.
Enterprise homeowners and supporters say the applying course of for the subsidy program is just too onerous for the quantity small companies can be receiving.
The small uptake “tells you the program did not work,” Manitoba Chambers of Commerce president Chuck Davidson mentioned.
“The outcomes that we’re going to get, or the {dollars} that we’d probably get again, it would not add as much as the period of time that is being put into it.”
The subsidy offers as much as 50 cents per hour per employee, to a most of 20 staff, however for under these workers who acquired a pay bump final October because of the brand new minimal wage, which was raised from $11.95 to $13.50.
Hours of paperwork
The monetary help, which is prorated based mostly upon an worker’s hourly fee final September, is appreciated, Davidson mentioned, however he argues getting the cash is just too difficult.
It may possibly take hours for companies to deal with the paperwork the province requires after ever pay interval cycle, Davidson mentioned.
At most, a enterprise receives round $480 for a single minimal wage earner over the six-month program, and that is assuming the worker holds full-time hours. Most staff working 40 hours per week are making greater than the minimal wage, Davidson mentioned.
“As a lot as [a business owner] would really like to have the ability to obtain these {dollars}, it isn’t vital sufficient for me to spend that point doing it,” he mentioned.
Thomas Schneider, who owns Tommy’s Pizzeria in Winnipeg, has but to apply for the subsidy. He crunched the numbers and realized he would have obtained simply $2.50 on his final payroll.
Submitting the paperwork wasn’t value it for him, or anybody else.
“The accountant and bookkeeper would cost much more than the $2.50 that I might have gotten,” Schneider mentioned.
His subsidy is low as a result of solely a number of of his staff have been on the low finish of the pay scale final fall, and so they do not work many hours. He mentioned these staff advance via the pay ranks shortly.
Schneider acknowledges that making use of for the subsidy could make monetary sense for companies with extra minimal wage earners, however $2.50 each two weeks would not deal with the rising prices stemming from growing the wages of his different staff, or the pressures of inflation and surging meals prices.
“Proper now, we function at a loss, primarily due to my meals prices,” mentioned Schneider, who simply remortgaged his house for the second time in two years to maintain his enterprise going.
“I am too scared to boost my costs any extra as a result of it would scare away my prospects.”
Davidson needs the Progressive Conservative authorities to revive the bridge grant program it ran throughout the pandemic, which supplied one-time grants.
The Canadian Federation of Unbiased Enterprise helped foyer the province to broaden the variety of companies which might be eligible for the subsidy, elevating the cap final December from companies with 20 staff to companies with 100 staff.
Brianna Solberg, CFIB’s director of legislative affairs for the Prairies and northern Canada, mentioned they realized lots of the companies most needing the help, like these within the hospitality sector, employed greater than 20 folks.
She hopes the change will end in extra companies signing up.
The subsidy is a “security web for some companies,” Solberg mentioned, “nevertheless it’s vital to notice that when minimal wage will increase, employers who’re already paying greater than minimal wage really feel urged to even give a pay bump to these staff who’re incomes extra.”
These companies aren’t eligible for any subsidy, she mentioned.
James Chambers, co-owner of Chez Angela Bakery in Brandon, would really like a sliding scale the place companies paying their staff nearer to a residing wage, like his, get some monetary help, even when it is lower than companies providing decrease pay.
“We have been paying above the residing wage. Now a national-level chain that has by no means paid even inside 30 per cent of that residing wage, they’re getting sponsored.
“It is virtually like we’re being punished” for voluntarily elevating wages with out the federal government’s assist, he mentioned.
Financial Growth Minister Cliff Cullen mentioned the variety of companies eligible for the subsidy has expanded in response to their consultations.
“We need to be sure that the best variety of Manitoba small companies can apply and profit from this system,” he mentioned in an announcement on Tuesday.
“Alongside the change in standards, we’re additionally engaged on including further social media messaging and promoting to assist spotlight the advantages of the subsidy to encourage additional purposes.”
His authorities is within the midst of a tax competitiveness assessment that might assist small companies by lowering their tax burden. The findings are anticipated to be launched within the spring.
Onerous course of fails small enterprise: NDP
Jamie Moses, the NDP’s financial improvement critic, referred to as on the federal government to rejig this system so the effort and time spent on making use of is correctly rewarded.
“This PC authorities that claims to be pleasant with small companies, they certain know find out how to design a program that fails them,” he mentioned.
If elected, an NDP authorities would “actually begin by listening, speaking to small companies and discovering out precisely how we will help them via the half occasions of rising prices.”
Manitoba’s minimal wage will rise to $14.15 on April 1.
A subsidy designed to assist some Manitoba companies raise their salaries to succeed in the upper minimal wage has hardly been utilized. Some small enterprise homeowners say Manitoba’s wage subsidy program is an excessive amount of work, for too little reward.
