Domestic workers must be paid the minimum wage like most other employees in Bermuda, the Government has confirmed.

A statement yesterday said: “A domestic worker's gross pay must add up to at least the minimum hourly wage of $16.40 for any pay reference period before an employer can begin making any deductions.”

The minimum wage, the first for Bermuda, became effective on June 1. It is the highest in the world.

The vast majority of workers must now be paid at the set level or above, although students can receive 70 per cent of the amount under the law.

A few categories are excluded, including casual workers packing groceries, people working in family businesses, apprentices, volunteers and anyone under the age of 18.

When the minimum wage was announced, the main questions about it centred on the payment of hospitality workers and whether gratuities would be included in the gross amount and count towards the minimum.

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The Government gave a clarification, saying that these payments would be added to the base wage in determining whether an employee is being compensated properly.

In the announcement, the Government made it clear that no carve-out was provided in the law for people working in the homes of others regardless of hours logged per week and the employee’s living situation.

The statement said: “The Ministry of Economy and Labour takes this opportunity to reiterate that domestic workers, whether full-time or part-time and living in or out of their employer’s home, are entitled to receive the minimum hourly wage rate of $16.40 as of June 1, 2023.”

It also said that domestic workers on the job more than 15 hours a week are considered employees under the law and entitled to a number of benefits, including holiday leave, sick leave, maternity and paternity leave, bereavement leave, rest days, meal breaks, overtime pay, public holidays and a severance allowance.

The statement also noted that contracts submitted for work permit applications must have wages that meet the minimum, and that existing contracts for work permits must be amended.

“To avoid work-permit applications being refused, employers must submit updated, amended employment contracts for existing work-permit holders and for work-permit applications being processed and yet to be issued by July 30, 2023,” the statement said.