PM: Minimum wage issue to be settled by next month

PUTRAJAYA: The issue of minimum wage will be settled by next month, says Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

The Prime Minister said the implementation of minimum wage is a big challenge.

“We will settle all the uproar pertaining to this issue at the Cabinet meeting next month once and for all,” he said in his speech at the Labour Day celebration here, on Monday (May 1).

On Labour Day last year, the Malaysian Minimum Wages Order 2022 came into effect with the monthly salary of employees fixed at RM1,500.

However, its implementation for companies with fewer than five employees has been postponed from Jan 1 to July 1, this year.

Anwar acknowledged that there is a need to increase the salaries among workers in Malaysia.

The matter should be accepted, and cannot be disputed by any employers, economists or even ministers, he added.

“We do not want anyone to dispute this matter. The government has a responsibility to accept this fact that we have to increase the wages for civil and private sectors.

“There are responsible employers but not all are the same. When an employer records a high revenue of up to RM1bil, they did not raise the employees' wages.

“But there are those who think about the welfare of the workers, their children’s education and providing housing benefits. This is how it should be done,” he said.

Anwar said when he was the finance minister, Tenanga Nasional Bhd was privatised and went on to make huge profits.

He said the company increased its workers' salaries, provided housing benefits to them and set up a university.