Malé, Maldives – The Wage Advisory Board of Maldives has postponed the meeting to decide the minimum wage to tomorrow.
The meeting which was scheduled to be held today has been postponed to tomorrow at 14:00 according to the Secretary General of the Wage Board Mauroof Zahir. The Wage Board did not reveal a reason for this delay.
Chapter 40 of the Employment Act states that
- The Minister may, after review of the advice of the Board, issue an order to establish, amend or terminate a minimum wage or remuneration in respect of certain types of employment.
- The Minister may, when issuing an order with respect to the minimum wage or remuneration, specify the hourly wage, the payment apportioned to part of the work and the amount of overtime.
According to a report released by the board, roughly 40 percent of the Maldivian workforce were found to earn less than MVR 6000 a month. The International Labour Organisation (ILO) had also advised Maldives to set a minimum wage between MVR 6,000 and MVR 6,500.
The government divided minimum wages to three different categories between MVR 4,000 and MVR 8,500. The first category is between MVR 8,500 and 8,000, second category has MVR 6,500 and 6,000 and MVR 4,500 and MVR 4,000 for the third category.
Civil servants across Maldives have been protesting with one condition being to set a minimum wage.
