Dont you have minimum wage there? Our minimum wage is $15.75 before tax for 16+yr olds ($11.25 USD) And minimum wage gets the associated "minimum type employee" Carpet cleaning franchises seem to pay $20-$25 to staff maybe a little more for lead tech whose racked up the years
We're talkin' real money here, Kiwi. (Insert Yosemite Sam emoticon here.)
Actually, the Federal minimum wage is $7.25, and States and local jurisdictions can set the rate higher. In our town that's $15, and like in Mikey's area, no one (that you'd want) will work for that little. The other side is that it costs a lot to live here, and not so much in the world's largest gravel pit.