KUALA LUMPUR: Workers who lose their jobs due to company restructuring following the planned minimum wage increase to RM2,000 will be eligible for Employment Insurance System (EIS) benefits, says Economy Minister Akmal Nasrullah Mohd Nasir.
He said that it included a job-search allowance for up to six months.
“Workers could lodge complaints over non-compliance with the new minimum wage order, while employers who breached the law could face legal action,” he said.
To contain price increases, the government would also step up enforcement under the Price Control and Anti-Profiteering Act and expand initiatives to keep essential goods affordable.
Akmal was responding to Datuk Aminolhuda Hassan (PH-Sri Gading) in the Dewan Rakyat on Tuesday (Oct 13) on how the government would prevent the minimum wage increase from causing job cuts, higher prices and additional operating costs for small businesses.
Under Budget 2027, the minimum wage is set to rise from RM1,700 to RM2,000, expected to benefit more than four million workers.
To ease the burden on micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), businesses with annual sales below RM50mil will be exempted.
Akmal said the exemption was intended to help employers maintain their operations without resorting to drastic measures, including retrenching workers.
The new minimum wage order would be enforced by the labour departments in Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak under the National Wages Consultative Council Act.
For next year, the government has allocated RM700mil for 30,000 Jualan Rahmah Madani programmes and RM50mil for 5,000 Jualan Agro Madani programmes to help stabilise prices and make essential goods more affordable.
In a supplementary question, Aminolhuda raised concerns that employers might reduce graduate recruitment or change job requirements to avoid higher salary costs.
Akmal said wage increases needed to be accompanied by productivity improvements through better worker skills, technology adoption and continuous training.
He also acknowledged the risk of wage compression, where minimum wage increases are not matched by proportionate salary rises for more skilled or qualified workers.
The government was looking at ways to improve wage progression, including raising the living-wage benchmark for government-linked investment companies and government-linked companies from RM3,100 to RM3,400 next year.
Responding to a supplementary question from the Temerloh MP, Akmal said nearly 51,000 workers had benefited from the Progressive Wage Policy, exceeding its initial target of 50,000, with more than 4,000 employers participating.
The programme provides incentives to employers to raise workers’ wages and is scheduled to run until 2027, with the government reviewing its effectiveness.
Akmal said the government aimed to increase the employee compensation share of the economy from about 33.9% currently to 40% by 2030.
