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KUALA LUMPUR, June 17 (Bernama) — The government has no plans to implement different minimum wages based on work experience or seniority, type of industry or the size of a business, and nationality.
Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri Richard Riot said this was not suitable as the government’s stand on the minimum wage policy was to fix a floor wage in the private sector and not establish overall wages.
“The ministry via the National Wages Consultative Council (MPGN) had conducted a study and is of the view that implementing different minimum wages is unsuitable,” he said in reply to a question from Normala Abdul Samad (BN-Pasir Gudang) in the Dewan Rakyat, here, today.
Normala wanted to know if the ministry intended to conduct a study on differing mininum wages between local and foreign workers and those with long service, and whether they would be categorised according to the type of industry or size of business.
Riot said the MPGN’s stand in fixing a standard minimum wage without discriminating based on a person’s nationality was in line with the International Labour Organisation Convention number 100, namely, ‘Equal Remuneration’ which had been ratified by Malaysia in 1997.
He said that it was more suitable for the fixing of wages based on work experience or seniority, to be at the discretion of the employer or industry itself administratively, because the employer understood better what salary was apt for a worker.
Source: Bernama
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