Sime Darby Plantation streamlines minimum wage for workers

PETALING JAYA: Sime Darby Plantation Bhd (SDP) has streamlined the minimum wage rate for all its workers throughout its operations in Malaysia with immediate effect.
In a statement today, the group said its plantation workers in Sabah and Sarawak will now have the same wage structure as its workers in Peninsular Malaysia, with a minimum wage of RM1,000 per month across the group.
Under the Minimum Wages Order 2016 made in pursuant to the National Wages Consultative Council Act 2011, the minimum wage rate for Sabah and Sarawak is currently set at RM920 per month. 
“SDP supports the government’s latest decision on the national minimum wage and we are looking forward to implementing a new rate of RM1,050 when it comes into force in January 2019,” said executive deputy chairman and managing director Tan Sri Mohd Bakke Salleh.
 “In the meantime, and in conjunction with the Malaysia Day celebration, we have decided to standardise the current minimum wage of RM1,000 across all our operations in Malaysia. Being in a labour-intensive palm oil industry, SDP is cognisant that employees are our greatest asset.”
“By standardising wages throughout our operations, we hope the equitable income opportunity will help to attract more workers to join our East Malaysia operations. This is also a fitting gesture from the company towards our workers, especially those in Sabah and Sarawak, in the spirit of unity marked by one of our nation’s historic occasions,” he added.
SDP’s plantation workers in Malaysia also enjoy productivity-based income incentives as well as other free and subsidised benefits such as free accommodation, potable water, rice supply, subsidised electricity, free medical treatment for employees and their immediate dependants, and various amenities such as school bus transport for employees’ children and recreational facilities.
At the same time, SDP is also integrating new breakthrough technologies and innovations into its operations in line with the aspirations of Industry 4.0.
The group aims to increase productivity and contribute to the up-skilling of its workforce with higher levels of mechanisation and automation, which will lead to higher income for its workers and transform its plantations into a hi-tech and more attractive place to work for the younger generation.