Economic Minister apologizes for delay in declaration of minimum wage

Economic Minister Fayyaz Ismail, on Sunday, apologized for the delay in declaring the national minimum wage, something which he had promised to get done before the end of February.

Fayyaz issued the apology in a short statement via his official Twitter account.

“Deadline has passed and unfortunately Minimum Wage has not been declared. My apologies for that. Expectation was that we would be able to do so by end of February,” he said.

The Salaries and Wages Advisory Board, which conducted research and evaluations into setting a minimum wage in Maldives, has recommended that the national minimum wage be set to MVR 6,400, and that an amount within the range of MVR 6,400 to MVR 8,400 be set as minimum wage for civil servants and tourism sector employees.

The Board recommended that the minimum wage should be applicable to the basic salary, and that the minimum wage should apply to both foreign workers – after a moratorium period of one to two years - and local workers in order to eliminate discrimination and offer protection to workers from all industrial sectors of the Maldivian economy from within the minimum wage system.

The Economic Ministry had forwarded the Board’s recommendations to the Parliament two weeks back. The Parliament’s decision regarding the subject remains pending.

Fayyaz, on Sunday, shifted blame over the delay in minimum wage declaration to the Parliament.

“The matter has been sent to Parliament and I believe it’s a matter of days before we get the view of Majlis,” he said.

Fayyaz had announced plans to declare minimum wage before the end of February in a tweet on February 11.

“Insha Allah we will declare the Minimum Wage for the first time in Maldives before end of the month after consultation on the methodology and the amount with the Parliament,” he said in his earlier tweet.

Declaring a minimum wage in Maldives had been one of President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih’s electoral pledges.