Pay minimum wage rate: Rosso

By LULU MAGINDE
THE minimum wages can only be increased if companies and employers first comply with the current minimum wage of K3.50, according to Deputy Prime Minister John Rosso.
Speaking in his capacity as the Labour minister in Port Moresby on Friday, Rosso told The National that a lot of companies were not adhering to the laws on the minimum wage for workers.
“The law says the minimum wage is K3.50. Yes, we would love to increase the minimum wage up to K4.50; but first of all we need to make certain of compliance,” Rosso said.
“Everyone must pay K3.50 then we’ll look at amending the minimum wage and increasing it.”
He said companies that failed to to pay the minimum wage, would be penalised with a fine.
According to the Employment Act 1978, the current penalty fee for employers who fail to pay or withhold wages, is K500.
With the Department of Labour now reviewing and amending the Act, Rosso stated that he would like to significantly increase the penalty.
“We have the minimum amount for penalties, for people who don’t comply with the labour laws like not paying the minimum wage what we’re trying to do now is ensure that the department amend these laws so that we raise the fines,” he said.
He observed that there are systems in place for employees to make complaints, if they are not receiving the minimum wage, but the penalties to punish companies are insufficient.
“The secretary is looking to amend the penalties, after which compliance will be enforced. So he’s in the process of setting up a team that will go out in Port Moresby, then Lae and a few other places to make it compliant,” Rosso said.
Last November, Rosso was reported to have said that 70 per cent of employers in the country were paying their workers less than the minimum wage rate of K3.50 an hour.
The National understands a new minimum wage board will be set up to review the current rate of K3.50 per hour.
In 2008, the Board for Minimum Wages set a three-year term for the review of the minimum wage.
The last review was done by the Minimum Wage Board in 2014.
It made recommendations to the Government at that time to increase the country’s minimum wage from K2.29 to K3.36.
The board’s recommendation was approved by the Government in 2016.