Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2019, published 109th ILC session (2021)

Minimum Wage Fixing Convention, 1970 (No. 131) - Malaysia (Ratification: 2016)

The Committee notes the Government’s first report and the observations of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) received in 2018.

Articles 1–5 of the Convention. Minimum wage system. The Committee takes note of the relevant provisions of the National Wages Consultative Council Act of 2011 as well as the information provided by the Government on the functioning of the minimum wage system and the adoption of minimum wages orders in application of that Act. It also notes the last adjustment made in 2018, with the adoption of a single rate applicable to the whole territory as of 1 January 2019 (Minimum Wages Order 2018). It further notes the Government’s indication that the formula for fixing minimum wages is based on two components: (a) the base criteria, which include the basic cost of living (poverty line income) and the median wages in the private sector; and (b) the adjustment criteria, which include the labour productivity growth, the consumer price index and the unemployment rate.

Finally, the Committee notes that the ITUC points out that the minimum wages are very much below the cost of living, as estimated by the Central Bank of Malaysia in 2017, and that an increase would be possible in Malaysia’s current economic environment. The Committee requests the Government to provide its comments in this respect.