G'ment presents Rs10,000 minimum wage Bill to House

The Government today presented a Bill to Parliament to set the national minimum monthly wage for all workers in any industry or service will be Rs. 10,000, while the national minimum daily wage of a worker will be Rs. 400.

Once the Bill is passed by Parliament, it will be mandatory for employers in all industry or service to pay the national minimum wage which should be the wage of a worker after deduction of all contributions of whatsoever nature.

Special provisions are also contained in the Bill regarding workers who are already employed to raise their wages to the national minimum level in cases where their salaries are less than the stipulated amount. The law will come into operation with retrospective effect from January 1, 2016.

The proposed law makes it mandatory for employers to maintain and keep in the premises a register setting out the name of each worker employed, the class of work performed by each worker and the amount paid to each such worker as wages. The Labour Commissioner-General who will be the competent authority in relation to this law will have the power to inspect such registers and take action against employers who fail to pay the minimum wage

Chandani Kirinde