Malaysia’s National Economic Action Council (Majlis Tindakan Ekonomi Negara) has approved the presentation of a Progressive Salary Policy paper, as it was proposed by the Minister of Economy, Mohd Rafizi Ramli on Monday 7th August 2023.
As the proposal was accepted, a whitepaper on this matter will soon be presented in a special Parliamentary sitting in September, said the Minister.
The Progressive Salary Policy will be a labour market policy aimed to raise workers’ wages and it will go hand-in-hand with global economy growth, which also includes the wage rate of workers from all sectors.
According to Minister Rafizi, the policy is voluntary, incentive-based and productivity-linked.
As cited by MalayMail, Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who led the MTEN meeting said that Putrajaya is aiming to increase the percentage of workers’ income. For example, the wage share ratio to 45% which is 12% higher than what was recorded last year that was 32.4%.
As of now, Anwar Ibrahim said that the Progressive Wage Model will complement the existing Minimum Wage Model and “will be followed by annual progressive wage guidelines” for individual sectors, jobs and levels, as reported by MalayMail.
He pointed out that it is recorded that approximately over two million workers get paid less than RM2,000. Intermediate salaries from nine states do not exceed RM2,000.
Minister Rafizi hopes that the Progressive Salary Policy can help reform the salary structure of the workers so that it will improve the lives of Malaysians.
Our Deputy Prime Minister, Zahid Hamidi added that he sees the Progressive Salary Policy can help balance between rising wages and the cost of living for citizens in the city and rural areas.
He believes that by weighing income and expenses, it can indirectly handle rising inflation.
