HC Deb 02 July 1984 vol 63 c37W
Mr. Leighton

asked the Secretary of State for Employment which Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries have minimum wage regulations.

Mr. Gummer

According to "Minimum Wage Fixing: An International Review of Practices and Problems" published by the International Labour Organisation, the following OECD countries have a national minimum wage: United States of America, Canada, France, Holland, Belgium, Luxembourg, Japan, Spain, Portugal, Australia, New Zealand and Turkey. There is legislation covering selected industries in the United Kingdom and in the Republic of Ireland. Legislation does not exist or covers such a small number of workers that its influence is minimal in West Germany, Italy, Austria, Switzerland, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Sweden and Greece. No information is given about Iceland and Yugoslavia.

Crude lists of this kind do not of course indicate the widely differing levels at which national minimum wages are set or their relationship to average earnings.