FMM urges govt to share minimum wage increase with employers

KUALA LUMPUR: The Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM) has urged the government to share the increase in minimum wage with the employers.
It suggested that the current minimum wage rate should not increase immediately to RM1,500, but be spread over a five-year period, with the first increase in 2019.
"However, the intention to standardise the minimum wage rates in Sabah and Sarawak with the peninsula should be reviewed as the two states would not be able to sustain the significant increase," it said in a statement today.
Concurrently, the allowable monthly housing deduction for foreign workers should be increased from RM50 to RM150, it added.
The FMM has also proposed the government to implement a multi-tiered (market-based) levy mechanism, including ploughing back levy collected to support the industry's automation and adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies, but in the meantime, the levy burden should revert back to foreign workers.
Additionally, the definition of minimum wage should be reviewed as total remuneration, that is, basic wage and all fixed cash payments and allowances are defined as wages under Section 2 of the Employment Act 1955.
"Minimum wage increase must commensurate with productivity gains with greater effort towards implementing the productivity-linked wage system," it added.
FMM has been the voice of the Malaysian manufacturing sector since 1968 and represents over 10,000 member companies (3,000 direct and 7,000 indirect) from the manufacturing supply chain. — Bernama