Private sector minimum wage increase in the works

Thursday, 8 July 2021 00:24 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

A Bill to amend the National Minimum Wage for private sector employees was discussed at the Ministerial Consultative Committee on Labour chaired by Minister of Labour Nimal Siripala de Silva yesterday.

It was proposed that Section 3 of the Minimum Wage of Employees Act No. 03 of 2016 be amended, to increase the current minimum monthly wage from Rs. 10,000 to Rs. 12,500 and the minimum daily wage from Rs. 400 to Rs. 500.

The committee gave approval for the Bill to be put to the House.

The Annual Report of the Employees Provident Fund for 2017 and the Annual Report of the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health for 2018 were also submitted to the committee.

State Minister Piyankara Jayaratne, Members of Parliament Jagath Pushpakumara, Rajika Wickramasinghe, and Kokila Harshani Gunawardena, Secretary to the Ministry of Labour, and other public officials, were also present at this committee meeting.