Minimum wage across sectors being reviewed in Putrajaya

Putrajaya's government is reviewing the minimum wage, following complaints that the new rate has forced businesses to close down or lay off employees.

Malaysia's Human Resources Minister M. Kulasegaran said this to reporters after meeting with employers from the Sabah chapter of the Malaysian Employers Federation yesterday (25 February), in a report by The Malay Mail shared on Kulasegaran’s Facebook page.

The current minimum wage is RM1,100 for all sectors, up from RM920.

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According to Kulasegaran, some sectors have fed-back that the jump over about RM180 has been too steep and thus resulted in higher operating costs.

To address this, he said: “We will consider minimum wage based on sectors, for example, or plantations, hotels and coffee shops among others to be based on a more realistic minimum wage.”

Aside from this, Kulasegaran added that the Human Resources Ministry is looking at updating various labour laws including the Employment Act, Labour Act, Employment Insurance Act, and more.

He explained: “Most of the Acts are outdated and need to be amended to reflect the current labour force,” adding that the ministry will meet with Sabah’s government, employers, worker unions and stakeholders to “update the Sabah Labour Ordinance in accordance to the Malaysia Agreement 1963.”

Photo / 123RF