Minimum Wage Advisory Board Submits Proposal to Minister Fayyaz, Minimum Wage in Review
Minimum Wage Advisory Board has submitted their findings towards establishing a minimum wage in the Maldives to the Minister of Economic Development on Monday. The Ministry informs that the findings are in review, given the Employment Act requires the Minister to officially declare minimum wage within one month of receiving the report.
The Board submitted a paper briefing the findings, and it calls for minimum wage to be defined as a sum of the basic and fixed allowances in the salary, excluding any in-kind benefits from it. The Board has advised to revise the salary structure to ensure that the basic salary contributes to at least 70% of the minimum wage.
To be calculated hourly, minimum wage differentiation was based on the Small and Medium Business classification provided in the SME Act. Accordingly, the below rates were suggested in the paper for the Private sector:
- ‘Micro’ category: undeclared
- ‘Small’ business: MVR 24.04 per hour
- ‘Medium’ business: MVR 33.65 per hour
- ‘Large’ business: MVR 42.79 per hour
On an average, employees who work 8 hours a day for 6 days a week can earn approximately MVR 5000 with a small business employer, MVR 7000 with a medium business employer, and MVR 8900 at a large business employer per month.
The Public sector minimum wage suggestion was equivalent to the medium business category, at MVR 33.65 per hour, with special condition to provide permanent staff working over 6 hours a minimum wage of MVR 7000. It also addresses the current short work hours of the public sector, recommending it be changed to match the private sector working hours.
The paper also touches minimum wage declaration for foreigners, asking for a further 3-year extension on the current moratorium. During this time, the board will be carrying out further studies regarding implementing minimum wage for foreigners while cautioning that this should not cause an influx of foreign workers in the meantime.