A NEW minimum wage of $60,147 per month for those employed in the private sector will go into effect from July 1, following the gazetting of the necessary order on Monday.

The order which was signed by Minister of Labour Joseph Hamilton, states: “Subject to this order, the minimum rate of wages payable to an employed person shall not be less than $347 per hour, $2,776 per day, or $13,888 per week or $60,147 per month.”

The order replaces all previous orders pertaining to the minimum wage for the private sector.

The order includes a list of workers who will be covered; however, it noted that the minimum wage payable “shall not be limited to workers employed in the sectors or activities specified in the schedule, but shall be payable to all workers in similar categories who are earning less than the sums specified.”

Any employer not adhering to the order will be liable to a fine and imprisonment.

The private sector minimum wage has not been increased since 2017, when it was raised from an hourly rate of $202 to $255, taking the monthly salary from $35,000 to $44,200 for a 40-hour week. Comparatively, the minimum wage for the public sector is currently $70,000.

Discussions on the increase had started in 2020. However, with the country in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and many private businesses struggling to meet their overhead expenses, the private sector had called for postponement of the increase.

With most businesses being able to return to normal functioning since last year, the Private Sector Commission (PSC) indicated its readiness to move ahead with making the increase official.

The private sector is one arm of the labour relations tripartite committee, which also includes the trade unions and the Ministry of Labour. The tripartite committee had agreed on the increase earlier this year, an important step in moving forward with the increase.

Two weeks ago, President, Dr. Irfaan Ali, had announced that Cabinet had agreed and was in support of the recommendation of the tripartite committee that the private sector minimum wage be increased to the $60,000.

The increase is seen as another means of bringing some amount of relief to persons given the increasing cost of living, which was brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic and compounded by the war between Russia and Ukraine.

When implemented, the measure will add to a slew of other measures implemented by the government to cushion this increase.

The other measures include increases to the old age pension and public assistance; the issuance of a one-off $25,000 cash grant to each household in the hinterland region; a one-off cash grant of $150,000 to each fisherfolk; a one-off cash grant of $100,000 for each child with a disability, and $1 billion in free fertiliser for farmers.