Some companies in Malaysia defy minimum wage rule

This comes after the Prime Minister and the Ministry of Human Resources have reiterated that companies must follow the Minimum Wages Order 2022.

MTUC president Effendy Abdul Ghani said some companies were still not abiding by the new minimum wage even though the criteria that had been set by the government was clear.

“We are still receiving complaints on issues relating to the implementation of the new minimum wage,” he said in a statement. 

He said the MTUC also received complaints of employers making cuts from their workers’ fixed allowance and adding it to the monthly basic salary in order to meet the RM1,500 (US$336) mark. 

“This is a clear violation of workers’ rights, and action from the human resources ministry is needed,” he said. 

Human resources minister M Saravanan told the Dewan Rakyat recently that no employers had been charged for failing to abide by the new minimum wage of RM1,500 (US$336) a month since it was implemented on May 1. He said this was because the salaries for May were only received by most employees in early June. 

READ: Firms in Malaysia told to pay minimum wage rate

The new minimum wage of RM1,500 (US$336) came into effect on May 1, a bump up from the previous rate of RM1,200 (US$269) per month. It only applies to companies in the private sector with five or more employees, according to FMT.