HR Ministry: 600,000 SMEs allowed to postpone minimum wage

Deputy Human Resource Minister Datuk Ismail Abd Mutallib has made allowances for around 600,000 SMEs to postpone their minimum wage implementation until December, as employers need more time to restructure.

Datuk Ismail stated this in response to a question asked at the Dewan Rakyat last week, Bernama reported.

Ismail said the government would allow SMEs to have discussions with employees before restructuring their salaries and allowances.

For SMEs which hire foreign workers, levy payments would be paid by the foreign workers themselves, while employers are permitted to deduct up to RM50 from salaries for housing.

Ismail also stated out of the 1,239 complaints about the minimum wage implementation, around 1,000 of them had been resolved via negotiations.