Labour Day Announcement: Minimum Wage for Private Sector

This is an excerpt taken from the Sun Daily (Malaysia) dated 1st May 2012 A minimum wage of RM900 a month has been set for private sector workers in Peninsular Malaysia while their counterparts in Sabah and Sarawak will take home RM800 a month. This works out to RM4.33 per hour for those in the Peninsular while employees in Sarawak, Sabah and Federal Territory of Labuan are to be paid a minimum of RM3.85 per hour. The amount is applicable to all sectors except for workers in the domestic sector such as maids and gardeners.

In making the much-awaited minimum wage announcement at a pre-Workers Day event in Dewan Perdana of the Putrajaya International Convention Centre (PICC) today, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak said that the government has also set in motion mechanisms to ensure that the implementation of this will not burden employers, and at the same time not cause employees to incur losses by allowing the absorption of allowances or fixed cash payment in the calculation of minimum wage. “This is a special gift from the government to all workers in Malaysia,” said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak in making the much awaited minimum wage announcement at a pre-Workers' Day event in Dewan Perdana of the Putrajaya International Convention Centre (PICC) today. He said that the government has also put in place mechanisms to ensure that the implementation of minimum wage will not burden employers, and at the same time not incur losses for employees by allowing the absorption of allowances or fixed cash payment in the calculation of minimum wage.