Alberta’s provincial minimum wage is set to increase as of September, but the impact of higher paycheques for workers will be felt in Jasper in a different way than the rest of the province. 

The increase will see the regular minimum wage rise from $8.80 to $9.40 an hour. Workers who serve alcohol will see their wages rise to $9.05 because those workers typically earn tips. 

Ginette Marcoux-Frigon, executive director of the Jasper Adult Learning Council, estimates that there are about 200 servers in Jasper. One of the concerns that has been raised in her conversations with local employers is the different wages for servers and non-alcohol serving staff. Marcoux-Frigon has heard that many employers will simply pay the same wage for all employees. 

“I have spoken to a few employers who said they will not bother with separating those wages out as too much tracking is required,” Marcoux-Frigon said. “They will move everyone to $9.40.”

Tony Bielec, operations manager for the Sawridge Inn and Conference Centre, said that employees at the Sawridge generally make over minimum wage, but the higher pay could still affect the business and others in Jasper. 

“I’m all for it for the servers, [but] from a business standpoint it’s going to be hard to make ends meet,” he said. 

Bielec said that businesses usually operate on a yearly budget, and will now have to find a way to fit the rise into it. Because the Sawridge does pay more than minimum wage, Bielec speculates that the Sawridge may have to look into increasing their wages in 2012 – and that rise could be felt at the dining tables. 

“Ultimately, someone’s going to have to pay for that – and the employers aren’t going to absorb that cost,” Bielec said. 

The Sawridge employes 27 servers. Bielec said that labour costs are the largest expense in the restaurant business, followed by food.

Kim Stark, owner of the Bear’s Paw Bakery and the Other Paw Bakery, said her business also pays above minimum wage.

“I don’t think it’s going to change my business,” she said, adding that she will have to wait and see. 

One of the problems Stark is seeing right now is a labour shortage – resumes are just not coming in the doors. Finding good employees has been tough this year, and Stark knows that to get the employees she needs to run her business smoothly, she has to – and is willing to – pay the price. 

Stark said she will continue to pay the same rate for all of her employees, even though she does serve alcohol at both bakeries. Her staff do receive tips, even though there is no table service at either the Other Paw or the Bear’s Paw. 

“I’m always shocked when people tip at the till,” she said. Stark appreciates when people do throw a few extra dollars to her hard-working staff, but they never expect it. 

Stark speculates that the place where servers will be hit with the new increase is in tips. She said that in Australia, servers make much more than they do in Canada, but they do not receive tips. 

“I’m curious to know, will people tip less?” Stark wondered. “$9 an hour isn’t bad.”

Marcoux-Frigon said that the important part of the increase is that workers in other sectors beside the tourism industry will also see their wages bumped up. 

According to the Jasper Adult Learning Council’s spring 2011 newsletter, food and beverage front line servers make up 20 per cent of the workforce in Jasper. The average wage for a server is $9.31 an hour, and the average across all sectors is $16.22.  In Alberta, the average wage for a full-time position in June 2011 was $26.51, according to Statistics Canada. Alberta currently has the second-lowest minimum wage in Canada and will rise to the eighth slot on that list with the new increase. The average wage across Canada is $24.09, as of June 2011, according to Statistics Canada. 

The new minimum wage increase in Alberta will affect 20,000 Albertans when it rises on Sept. 1. Also on Sept. 1, the Alberta government will change the way it makes increases in the future. 

According to a statement from the Government of Alberta’s employment and immigration agency released June 1: “The new formula will be a simple average of changes to Alberta’s annual average weekly earnings and changes to the Consumer Price Index in Alberta. The previous formula for determining changes was based on Alberta’s average weekly earnings only. Changes would occur Sept. 1 of each year and would be announced with three months’ notice.”