PSM: Noh Omar has no power to exempt MSMEs from minimum wage

Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) deputy president S Arutchelvan, today, challenged Entrepreneur Development and Cooperative Minister Noh Omar on his authority to exempt micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) from implementing the minimum wage.

“Noh Omar has no authority to give exemption to MSMEs from implementing the RM1,500 minimum wage rate starting May 1.

“Who is he to say that because the power on this matter is vested with the minister of human resources and Noh was interfering in the minister’s role,” challenged Arutchelvan.

He was commenting on Noh Omar’s statement reported in the online news portal Free Malaysia Today, yesterday, confirming that MSMEs would be exempted from paying their workers the minimum wage of RM1,500 rate from May 1.

Arutchelvan also questioned Noh’s basis for such a blanket exemption as the MSMEs represented a large segment of the country’s economy.

Exemptions to certain companies

On March 19, Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob had told the Umno general assembly that the minimum wage of RM1,500 would take effect from May 1 with exemptions to companies with less than five employees and those that were struggling with poor profits.

Meanwhile, Deputy Human Resources Minister Awang Hashim told Parliament yesterday that his ministry would hold discussions with the Entrepreneur Development and Cooperative Ministry before making a decision.

Arutchelvan was speaking at a press conference calling for the immediate implementation of the minimum wage of RM1,500 without delay or exemptions.

The press conference today was held jointly with the Government Contract Workers’ Network (JPKK) and the National Union of Workers in Hospital Support and Allied Services (NUWHSAS).

Arutchelvan said there should be no further delay to the May 1, implementation date set by Ismail Sabri and since the matter was not tabled in parliament in March, a special parliamentary session should be held to debate the matter.

“Or they could debate it during the special session already set on April 11, for the tabling of the anti-party hopping bill,” he said.

Urgency for immediate implementation

He said the urgency for its immediate implementation was because the proposed RM1,500 was insufficient to help workers live decent lives.

He explained that the minimum wage technical committee meeting found that the minimum wage should be at a higher rate of RM2,017, having taken into consideration the poverty line, consumer price index (CPI), production growth and unemployment.

“Malaysian workers also held the lowest purchasing power in the South East Asian region and according to the Bank Negara Living Wage study in 2016, the wages of a single adult living in Kuala Lumpur should have been RM2,700.

“The living wages of a couple should have been RM4,500 and a family with two children should have been RM6,500,” he said.

Arutchelvan said objections to the minimum wage hikes from the Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF) were consistent every time wages the minimum threshold needed to be raised with the same arguments.

“Every time, their objections are like a mantra, but somehow, the MSMEs were still able to pay the new wage hikes.

“The rise in wages would also help increase or start to replenish workers’ retirement savings with the Employees Provident Fund (EPF),” he argued.

Assist ailing businesses

Arutchelvan proposed that the government should find ways to assist ailing businesses to implement the new minimum wage instead of putting wage increments on hold.

“Don’t delay but assist,” he quipped.

Also at the press conference, NUWHSAS industrial Relations Officer Chong Yee Shan said the wage hike would benefit 50,000 cleaners in government hospitals nationwide.

She said the minimum wage was supposed to be the yardstick that indicated that a worker earning the lowest capping of wages could live without debt but this would not be the case even with the new rates.

“However, we welcome the government’s effort to increase the minimum wage promptly,” she said.

However, Chong said that government-linked companies (GLCs) should not have to wait for the new rates to be implemented and instead become role models to other companies in the country.

“Of the five, hospital cleaning concessionaires in Malaysia, four were GLCs and they must step up as role models to other companies in the country to show that the new minimum wage rates must be implemented on May 1,” she said. - Mkini