With the RM900 minimum wage policy being implemented at the end of this month, there remains uncertainty about its implementation as Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) and and Jaringan Rakyat Tertindas (Jerit) claim that the government may have backed down on some of its conditions.Following this concern that workers may not be given what they are due, PSM and Jerit have offered to monitor its implementation and also be an avenue for the workers to voice their grouses if their employer is not implementing the minimum wage policy.

This is despite PSM and Jerit having been unsuccessful in their campaign to have RM1,500 as the minimum wage.

PSM secretary-general S Arutchelvam said the party and NGO Jerit is concerned that despite Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s announcement on April 30 last year on having a minimum wage of RM900 and the bill being enacted last September, there is still cause for worry.

He said although PSM was unsuccessful in seeing a minimum wage of RM1,500, the rise was significant from the level of RM400 to RM500 recorded previously. However, there is still some cause for concern despite the move to implement it at the end of this month.

“The government had seemed to be on the employers’ side in some of the circumstances. Initially the government said the RM900 is the basic wage that should not include allowances.

“There are genuine concerns as since the law had come into force, 4,500 companies had applied for exemption and the government had approved 600 of them to be given leeway. We had seen the government issuing statements that employers could restructure the employees’ wages, where allowances could be included,” he said.

He also said small and medium enterprises, along with kindergarten owners, have said they cannot implement the minimum wage.

‘Basic wage should not include allowances’

Arutchelvam said RM900 should be the basic wage and should not include allowances.

Following this concern, Arutchelvam said PSM and Jerit have set up a hotline for the workers to come and lodge a complaint with them, if their employer has not implemented it.

“We have also distributed 40,000 booklets over workers’ rights to minimum wage and a hotline number for them to contact us in 12 states,” he said.

“People who have problems of not receiving the required minimum wage can voice their concern to us. Since the hotline was set up last month, we have received about 300 queries and concerns from workers that the employers are not abiding by the condition,” he said.

“We hope the monitoring would help the government react seriously and ensure that employers follow the law and increase the income and livelihood of the workers,” he said.

The PSM secretary-general also claimed that the Human Resources Ministry had not set up such a hotline to assist workers.

He said that the disparity in income in Malaysia between the rich and poor is said to be the largest among South-East Asia and also among the highest in Asia.

“Hence, with the implementation it would help bridge the disparity,” he said.

Also present in the press conference were PSM deputy chairperson M Saras and Workers Bureau coordinator M Sugumaran, as well as Jerit’s M Sivaranjani.

Saras said if the workers are afraid of giving their full names for fear of repercussions, they can give their short details and they will inform the Human Resources Ministry about the employers allegedly flouting the law.