Working out a fair minimum wage

THE Pakatan Harapan government’s recent announcement on the increase in the country’s minimum wage to RM1,050 a month or RM5.05 an hour effective Jan 1, 2019 received support from the employers but disappointment from almost everyone else.

Employers, represented by groups such as the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM), have stated that the new minimum wage is “reasonable” even though they had also recommended that the government maintained it at the previous level, citing “hefty increases in the cost of doing business”.