KUALA LUMPUR – Expectedly stakeholders welcomed the Prime Minister’s announcement on the new national minimum wage of RM1,500 but raises hopes of better living wages in the future.
HRDCorp chief operating officer Datuk Ariff Farhan Doss said the move to increase the wages is in line with HRD Corp’s aspiration to ensure Malaysians benefit from having higher salaries.
Speaking to The Vibes, Ariff said HRDCorp will still maintain its focus in ensuring Malaysians are given opportunities to acquire additional skills as this would guarantee better employability and prospect for better wages as well.
“I will leave the minimum wage issue to the Ministry of Human Resources, perhaps I would just want to comment on what we refer to as real wages which is linked to productivity and the skills an employee possesses.”
“The Minister of Human Resources Datuk Seri M Saravanan has been instrumental in pushing us to serve as many Malaysians as possible since the pandemic hit.
“The Minister has been most instrumental in pushing for higher living wages for all Malaysians and this announcement will bring relief to many whose wages have been stagnant for some time now,” Ariff said when contacted.
However, Ariff acknowledged that there may be pushback by several quarters who may not receive the move positively.
Ariff points out that this has even caused previous administrations to face obstacles in increasing wages due to opposition from these quarters.
“It is our view that generally, Malaysians are deserving of higher wages and the argument that productivity has not risen in tandem with wage increases is not entirely true.
“We, therefore, urge the government to prioritise upskilling and reskilling to mitigate the challenges some employers may face with the imposition of this wage policy,” Ariff
Meanwhile, Malaysian Trade Union Congress (MTUC) deputy president Mohd Effendy Abdul Ghani also agreed that increasing the national minimum wage is a good step for Malaysia, with RM1,500 being a “reasonable amount”.
However he said the Federal Government should make a push towards ensuring a living wage.
“According to the legislation, the minimum wage must be revised every two years.
“We were supposed to have a new minimum wage at the start of 2022.
“For the time being, RM1,500 is a reasonable amount.
“But to pursue the 12th Malaysia Plan goal to become a high-income nation, the government should have plans to implement a living wage,” Effendy told The Vibes.
At the Umno General Assembly today Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said the RM1,500 minimum wage would come into play on May 1, but will only be enforced upon companies with five employees or more.
Ismail also suggested the possibility of deferring implementation of the minimum wage upon small and medium enterprises (SMEs) who may not be able to cover such costs.
Thus, Effendy asked that more details be forthcoming on the mechanism in which Putrajaya plans to implement this minimum wage and whether the government will gazette this amendment soon so that it applies across the board. – The Vibes, March 19, 2022
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