Workers denied minimum wage will lose out on RM4,200 - labour group

Employees who are denied the monthly earnings of the national minimum wage until next July will lose out on RM4,200 which can go a long way for a B40 family which researchers report spends 96 percent of their income on household expenses, said the Labour Law Reform Coalition (LLRC).

Citing statistics reported by the Khazanah Research Institute, the LLRC is also dusting off the Pakatan Harapan 2018 election manifesto to remind the human resources minister of a promise on page 75 of its proclamation.

LLRC co-chairperson N Gopal Kishnam said Harapan had promised during the 14th general election that the minimum wage would be increased to RM1,500 in its first term of the administration.

He said Harapan had promised to share the cost difference of RM500 equally with the employer.

On Tuesday, Dec 27, Human Resources Minister V Sivakumar announced a postponement for micro businesses to comply with the latest Minimum Wage Order to next July.

He said employers with fewer than five employees on their payroll now have until July 1 next year to start paying the new minimum wage of RM1,500.

Human Resources Minister V Sivakumar

“Given that Harapan is dominating the unity government, to ensure its policy coherence and to earn respect from Malaysian workers and trade unions, we are urging the minister to maintain the minimum wage of RM1,500 for all enterprises.

“Meanwhile, until next July, the government can provide a flexible subsidy to businesses based on their respective capacity, as minimum wage ‘top-ups’ which will go toward the workforce,” Gopal explained.

This scheme, Gopal said, was based on a plan shared in March by former human resources minister M Kulasegaran, instead of postponing the implementation of the national minimum wage.

Kulasegaran had advised the government to allocate subsidies for SMEs that could not afford the new minimum rate.

Monthly RM300 denied is pay cut

Gopal said those who worked in companies with small workforces are low-income earners who rely on the minimum wage hikes for their salary increments.

“Those who had to forgo this increment have already lost RM2,100 this year and will lose another RM2,100 in the coming seven months,” he calculated.

He said the RM300 that employees are denied is also a pay cut that can be used to alleviate their monthly burden - from monthly electricity bills, daycare services, groceries and even recreation for their loved ones.

Meanwhile, recognising the need to improve living standards, BN had promised to raise every household income to a minimum of RM2,208 through an “assistive basic income” scheme.

During the 15th general election, the BN manifesto promised to do this through a scheme that involves an automatic “top-up” mechanism. - Mkini