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KUALA LUMPUR: A minimum wage of RM1,810 - that is what the pilot voluntary progressive wage policy (PWP) project is asking employers to pay their entry-level employees.
According to the Ministry of Human Resources' "Guidebook of Starting Basic Salaries and Annual Salary Increment for Selected Sectors" the lowest paying job under the programme starts at RM1,810, for entry level pawnbrokers and moneylenders.
Entry-level employees refer to Malaysian employees who are in their first year of service at the company and in that position.
In the list, entry-level motorcycle riders and astrologers start at RM2,205.
The pilot project covers five economic sectors namely manufacturing, construction, information and communication, professional scientific and technical activities and lastly, wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles.
Each employer in the manufacturing sector participating in the pilot project can select up to 200 workers for this pilot project, while employers in other sectors can select up to 100 workers.
Monthly basic salary of semi-skilled and skilled employees eligible for the programme are within the RM1,500 and RM4,999 pay scale.
Elementary workers and managers are not included in PWP.
Government-linked companies and multinational companies are not eligible to participate in the PWP.
For entry level employees, who meet PWP salary scale, employers will be provided an incentive of up to RM200 per month for 12 months for each eligible employee.
For non-entry level employees, an incentive of up to RM300 per month for 12 months for each eligible employee.
The expectation is that employers will increase eligible employees' salaries by the same quantum or more.
Non-entry-level employees refer to Malaysian employees who have held a position in the company for more than a year.
Registration of interest to participate in the pilot PWP, which kicked off in June, started from May 15, 2024 and runs until August 31, 2024.
In the updated guide, the Human Resources Ministry said the primary objective of the pilot project is to gauge the response of employers to the PWP.
It aims to get feedback on the PWP wage guide and the policy implementation.
The feedback obtained will be used to improve the PWP implementation.
As at Aug 5, 1,094 companies had opened accounts under the project.
About 443 applications had been made, of which 144 applications met the wage requirements. A total of 42 companies had made claims, involving 183 employees.
The government expects to pay out incentives to employers from October 2024.
The PWP is part of the government' sefforts to increase the rate of employee compensation to 45 per cent (or 45 sen for every RM1 generated from the country's gross domestic product) by 2033.
In 2022, the rate of employee compensation was at 32 per cent.