News

New Wage Rate effective from today

June 30, 2015 7:19 pm

The new increased national minimum wage from $2.00 to $2.32 per hour comes into effect from today.

Employment Minister Jioji Konrote says the new wage rate will mean that about 100,000 marginalized workers will have their weekly wages increased from the $90.00 – $96.00 range to the $104.40 – $111.36 range.

The increase; which was announced by Government in February this year has been gazetted and employers are reminded to comply with it’s implementation.

Article continues after advertisement

The new wage rate covers workers in the informal sector, as well as those workers in the formal sector who are not covered under the current 10 Wages Regulations.

It is the second increase in just over a year.

Employers had almost a five-month adjustment period to enable compliance with the new wage policy.

Konrote says the enforcement of the first minimum wage has been successful with minimal non-compliance by employers.

98 per cent of the 581 employers inspected in 2014 complied with the law, while 90 per cent compliance has been recorded for the first two quarters of 2015.

Government has increased the penalty for employers who fail to comply with any provisions of the New Minimum Wage to protect workers from exploitation.

They will now be issued on spot fine of $500.

The Minister reiterates that the National Minimum Wage does not repeal but co-exists with the current sectoral minimum wage rates for workers in the ten (10) sectors covered under the new 2015 Wages Regulations.