Malé, Maldives – The Secretary-General of the Wage Advisory Board Mauroof Zahir has today said that it is unlikely that minimum wage can be determined as early as next week.
Speaking to local news Mihaaru, Mauroof said that while the minimum wage was to be determined today, the board is now discussing a new proposal and have delayed the minimum wage determination accordingly.
Mauroof said that the Chairman of the Wage Advisory board and Deputy Economic Minister Riyaz Mansoor has requested to delay minimum wage determination to next week.
The way things are progressing, it is unlikely that we can determine minimum wage next week.
Mauroof Zahir, Secretary-General of the Wage Advisory Board
Mihaaru reports that Mauroof has alleged that Wage Advisory Board has been politicized and wage determination might be delayed until post ruling party MDP’s internal elections.
Mauroof further said that the government has proposed a minimum wage of MVR 3,500 for some categories which is diminutive compared to the average household living expenses of MVR 17,000.
The government has also allegedly proposed to exclude migrants from minimum wage.
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.
Civil servants across Maldives have been protesting with one condition being to set a minimum wage.
