Malaysia officially introduces minimum wage hike

Employers with fewer than five staff members are exempted from implementing the hike from May 1, but they are legally required to start paying the minimum wage from January next year.

The Minimum Wages Order 2022 made by Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri M Saravanan was published in a federal government gazette recently.

This means that the minimum wage that employers must pay workers would amount to RM7.21 (US$1.65) per hour. In daily wages, this translates to RM57.69 (US$13.25) for a six-day work week; RM69.23 (US$15.89) for a five-day work week and RM86.54 (US$19.87) for a four-day work week.

For employees who are not paid basic wages but are paid wages based only on “piece rate, tonnage, task, trip or commission”, the rate of monthly wages that has to be paid to such employees from May 1 is at least RM1,500.

The new RM1,500 minimum wage rate will apply to an employer who has five or more employees from May 1.

READ: Concerns raised over minimum wage hike in Malaysia

If an employer carries out a professional activity classified under the Malaysia Standard Classification of Occupations (Masco) as published officially by the Human Resources Ministry, the new RM1,500 rate will apply from May 1, regardless of how many employees are employed by such an employer, according to Malay Mail.