KUALA LUMPUR: Almost all employers in the country have complied with the government’s new minimum wages order of RM1,100, the Dewan Rakyat was told.
Deputy Human Resources Minister Datuk Mahfuz Omar (pix) said this was based on statutory inspections conducted by the Labour Department in the first two months of the year when the new minimum wage was first implemented.
“The department has conducted various enforcement activities, including visiting work places to check on their compliances to our labour law.
“Between Jan 1 and Feb 28 this year, we have made 7,695 inspections nationwide, and found that 98% of them have adhered to the minimum wages order of RM1,100,” he told the Dewan Rakyat, here, today.
He added that the Labour Department has also conducted investigations on cases filed by employees on their employers’ failure to abide by the new minimum wage.
“For the first two months of the year, 95 claims were filed, of which 66 have been settled, while the remaining are still being investigated,” he said.
Mahfuz was responding to Khairy Jamaluddin (BN-Rembau) who wanted to know the level of compliance with the new RM1,100 minimum wage and whether there were employers who applied to postpone its implementation due to their inability to carry it out.
The deputy minister said to date, no postponement has been granted to any employers as there was no provision in the law that allows for it.
The government had during the tabling of the 2019 Budget in November last year announced that the minimum wage quantum would be increased to RM1,100 a
month across the board nationwide beginning Jan 1 this year.
This is an increase from the RM1,000 for Peninsular Malaysia and RM920 for Sabah and Sarawak previously.
The increment is part of Pakatan Harapan’s election pledge to increase the monthly minimum wage to RM1,500 by the end of its first term.
