MOST employers are paying the RM1,100 minimum wage since it was enforced on January 1.

Deputy Human Resources Minister Mahfuz Omar said the Labour Department had conducted thousands of inspections at workplaces and found most employers were complying with the policy.

“In January and February, the Labour Department conducted 7,695 inspections, and found 98% of the employers following the minimum wage policy,” he told the Dewan Rakyat during question time this morning.

Mahfuz said the department received 95 claims from workers of employers not paying the new minimum wage.

“So far, we have settled 66 claims, with the rest still under the department’s action.

“There were also 78 complaints filed by workers over the same issue, with 61 of the cases settled,” he said.

Mahfuz was answering Khairy Jamaluddin (Rembau-BN), who had asked about the level of compliance among employers with the new minimum wage.

The opposition lawmaker also asked if there were employers asking for deferrals because they could not afford to pay the minimum wage.

The previous minimum wage was RM1,000 a month in Peninsular Malaysia, and RM920 in Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan.

Mahfuz said the law does not allow for any postponement in enforcing the new minimum wage.

In his supplementary question, Khairy asked if the government had policies to boost the starting pay of graduates, which have decreased.

He cited the recent Bank Negara Malaysia report, which stated that an excess of graduates in the job market and limited high-skilled jobs have led to falling starting salaries.

The report said a fresh diploma graduate earned RM1,376 a month in 2018, compared to RM1,458 in 2010, while a master’s holder made RM2,707 last year compared to RM2,923 in 2010.

Mahfuz said it was up to employers and jobseekers to negotiate salaries; and the ministry could only provide guidelines.

“We have salary guidelines for 160 jobs based on the skills required. We also recently produced a national salary index based on current trends as a guideline for employers and jobseekers.

“The guidelines are to assist both parties in salary negotiations. The government can only enforce the minimum wage,” he said.

Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad (Setiawangsa-PH) asked Mahfuz if the government could consider a suggestion by Bank Negara to introduce living wages that were higher than minimum wages to tackle the low salary problem.

“This is done in some countries, which we can study,” the PKR lawmaker said.

Mahfuz said the government was open to options.

“But salaries must be discussed by all relevant parties, like workers’ unions and the National Wage Consultative Council,” he said. – April 9, 2019.