Saipan Chamber of Commerce vice president Jim Arenovski said these measures could among the ways struggling businesses will have to implement to comply with the federally mandated wage hike.
The wage increase may also result in staff level adjustments.
But Arenovski said businesses that have planned ahead should be able to cope with the increase.
“I highly doubt that someone who has been an ‘above the board’ employer will be making drastic changes at this time in the game and this wage hike certainly should not be a shock an employer,” Arenovski said.
The implementation of the minimum wage increase was originally scheduled for May 2010, but it was delayed in the CNMI and American Samoa after President Obama signed the fiscal year 2010 omnibus appropriations bill in December last year.
Arenovski, who is also Delta Management’s president, said businesses may pass on to the consumers the additional cost.
The current minimum wage in the CNMI is $4.55 an hour. This will increase by 50 cents in September and every year until it reaches the federal rate of $7.25 an hour.
