The Malaysian Trade Union Congress (MTUC) has called on the government to enforce the RM1500 minimum wage across all sectors. MTUC secretary-general Kamarul Baharin Mansor said the union has been pushing for zero exemptions to employers on enforcement of minimum wage, including for domestic workers.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob had announced last month that the RM1,500 minimum wage policy would be implemented on May 1. Kamarul added that with less than a month to the implementation date, the government should monitor enforcement of the new minimum wage across all sectors. He also expressed concern that the government might not have time to hold discussions with relevant stakeholders. “MTUC does not want to see a repeat of 2013 when many employers failed to pay the minimum wage,” he said, adding that some workers had to take their cases all the way to the High Court to claim outstanding wages. “The government must release the guidelines for the implementation of the new minimum wage by gazetting a Minimum Wage Order,” he said.
Meanwhile, Finance Minister Tengku Zarful Abdul Aziz said the government has disbursed RM20.64 billion in wage subsidies as of March 25, 2020. He said the amount was disbursed to 357,639 employers through the Wage Subsidy Programme (PSU) to retain 2.96 million local workers and reduce the unemployment rate among Malaysians. Meanwhile, Tengku Zafrul said the government through various ministries and government agencies would continue reskilling and upskilling efforts for 2022 with a total allocation of RM1.1bil targeting 220,000 job opportunities. “The Finance Ministry and Human Resources Ministry have also been given the responsibility to provide a ‘single window’ to ensure that reskilling and upskilling programmes conducted by various ministries and agencies are implemented effectively and optimally.
