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Nick Cluley and his wife, who have always paid their Coffee Public employees more than minimum wage, have boosted everyone’s pay by $1.25 an hour since Jan. 1 — not just those earning below $14, as a new Ontario law required.

They did that “to avoid tensions that might come from more experienced people, you know, being crunched right up against the same salary as someone that just started,” he said.

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The new starting wage is $14.75, though the staff average is closer to $15.45, he said, adding they raised prices by about 10 per cent on everything they serve in their Toronto and Port Hope, Ont., shops.

From small mom-and-pop shops to a discount retail giant, there are already examples of companies that have bumped the hourly pay for employees who were making close to the new $14 an hour minimum — suggesting Ontario’s recent minimum wage hike is affecting more than just the lowest paid workers.