Yes, many workers are sktill not receiving minimum wages .... but the Cost of Living is rising. The recent move to increase the cost of RON95(petrol) and diesel has again increased the cost of living
The minimum wage was made known more than a year ago, and employers should have done the needful - there is no real justification to delay minimum wages for workers..
The REAL question is how many workers have been affected? What are the below minimum wage wages are they earning now? Are workers earning RM400 per month? RM500? RM600? RM700? or less? - how many workers - give us the statistics. The government must reveal this - and really, these workers and their families must be given financial assistance to help them cope with rising cost of living...
To the original question from Wan Hasan Mohd Ramli (PAS-Dungun), Ismail said the government would allow SMEs to have discussions with employees before restructuring their salaries and allowances.
Without a trade union negotiating for worker/employees, any negotiations will be lop-sided in favour of the employer, and workers will have no choice but to accept what the employer says...or tells them to sign as the worry(risk) of termination and loss of employment is very real, more so when many workers in Malaysia do not even enjoy the right to regular employment until retirement... and also because the access to justice system for workers does not dish out real justice, and is really too slow..
In places where there are no trade unions, MTUC or the relevant National/Regional Trade Union should be included in these negotiations between employers and employees... this will help prevent workers being 'cheated' of their rights.
One you sign...you lose your rights. And the rights that you may lose are rights to certain allowances (like shift allowances, etc), guaranteed bonus, etc. In some cases, employers may also increase working hours, say from 8 hours per day to 10 hours, and this means workers will lose 2 hours that they would have previously been paid overtime rates...
In fact, Labour (or HRD Officers) from the relevant Ministry should be present to ensure poor workers from being cheated... Maybe, any variation of the employment agreement in connection with the Minimum Wage must maybe be approved by the Labour Courts. Workers need to be protected...
600,000 SMEs can defer minimum wage application
The employers need more time to restructure operations and cut down losses before starting the minimum wage implementation, he said when responding to a supplementary question from Tiong King Sing (BN-Bintulu) at the Dewan Rakyat today.
To the original question from Wan Hasan Mohd Ramli (PAS-Dungun), Ismail said the government would allow SMEs to have discussions with employees before restructuring their salaries and allowances.
For SMEs that hire foreign workers, he said levy payment would be paid by foreign workers themselves while employers were allowed to deduct up to RM50 from salaries for housing facilities.
He said an impact study on the minimum wage implementation was being conducted involving employers which had put the scheme into effect.
Ismail said 1,001 out of 1,239 complaints on the minimum wage implementation had been resolved through negotiation among employers, employees and government.
On another note, Ismail said the Performance Management and Delivery Unit (Pemandu) would be holding a workshop next month to formulate incentives to enhance SME productivity and competitiveness as well to reduce dependence on foreign workers.
- Bernama - Malaysiakini, 30/9/2013, 600,000 SMEs can defer minimum wage application
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