Minimum wage policy panel to complete review by year's end

At the Dewan Rakyat yesterday 

THE technical committee studying the impact of the country’s minimum wage policy, which was enforced in January after one year of deferment, is expected to complete its review by the end of this year.

The feedback so far has been both negative and positive, said Deputy Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Abd Muttalib.

“There are some grouses, particularly from the education and medical sectors, but these will be addressed through recommendations after the study,” he said.

“A review of the minimum wage is currently under way and expected to be completed by the year’s end or by early next year before it is tabled to the Government,” he said in reply to Nasarudin Hassan (PAS-Temerloh).

Ismail said several recommendations would be made to further streamline the minimum wage scheme following the study by the committee, which is under the National Wages Consultative Council.

Under the minimum wage policy, employers with six or more workers must pay their employees a minimum wage of RM900 a month in peninsular Malaysia and RM800 a month in Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan.

The minimum wage order was gazetted in July 2012 for implementation in January last year.

However, it was deferred till January this year following appeals from several sectors, particularly small and medium enterprises.

An interim deferment was extended to some 1,044 employers this year, with the scheme to be fully implemented next year without any more deferments.

“A review of the minimum wage scheme is to be carried out once every two years.

“It was supposed to have been done in January this year but is being done now due to the deferment of the scheme following appeals last year,” said Ismail.

At present, he said, some 500,000 employers had implemented minimum wage, benefitting some 13.5 million employees.

Ismail said that checks were carried out on some 29,300 employers and it was found that only 2% had not yet implemented the scheme.

He added that 895 cases had been lodged with the Labour Department.