RM1,500 soon to be the new minimum wage throughout Malaysia

Malaysia's Human Resources Minister M. Kulasegaran announced in Parliament  yesterday (19 July), workers across the country can expect to the minimum monthly wage to be set at RM1,500, as reported in The Sun Daily. 

He said during a Question Time: “The increase of minimum wage to RM1,500 will be done gradually, not in an instant."

“In the absence of any obstacle, the new Minimum Wage Order will be gazetted in a month or two,” he added.

The government has discussed the matter with the stakeholders, including workers’ unions, according to the report.

Kulasegaran said the review on the wages was made taking into account factors such as productivity growth rate, employers' ability to pay the salaries and unemployment rate.

"The standardised wage is also to guarantee and protect job opportunities for the locals. If they are not (uninformed), then there will instances where employers would prefer taking foreigners as they could pay them at a lower rate," he said.

The current minimum wage is RM1,000 for those in the Peninsular Malaysia and RM920 for Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan.

ALSO READ: Malaysia’s new minimum wage for the private sector likely out in August