National Minimum Wage - Radhakrisna Sadien : “PRB and NRB should now review workers’ salary structure”

After the announcement of the Minister of Labour that many employers have not adhered to the law voted in parliament during its last session on the establishment of a National Minimum Wage, the concern of trade unions currently is about a salary structure for all workers.

They urge the Pay Research Bureau and the National Remuneration Board to look into it as soon as possible and to bring a settlement to the salary and wage issue once for all. Radhakrisna Sadien of the Government Services Employees Association (GSEA) comments on the issue in the following statement he made to News on Sunday this week

Difference between the National Minimum Wage and the National Living Wage

The National Minimum Wage is the minimum that a worker should draw in the country whereas the National Living Wage is the wage that a worker should draw in order to live decently.
Since we have to start somewhere, the introduction of a National Minimum wage as a first step towards a National Living wage should be welcome.

Necessity for a Minimum Wage

The law of the jungle cannot continue in as far as wages are concerned on the premise that we should increase FDI. Mauritius is classified as one of the first countries in Africa for ease of doing business. One should also keep in mind the Decent Work Agenda that is being promoted by the ILO.

The enabling environment to attract investors, be it locally or from overseas, cannot be done at the expense of Mauritian workers. It was high time for a country that is celebrating its 50th Independence anniversary to really act as one people and one nation in the distribution of wealth.

I keep on saying that positive economic indicators have no sense if the fruits of this success are not distributed equally among all players who have contributed in the creation of this wealth.

How the figure of Rs 9,000 per month has been arrived at?

Government has decided that the minimum salary would be Rs 8,140 in December 2017. An employee should have, in January 2018, been paid the salaries compensation of Rs 360 which would bring the amount to Rs 8,500, to which would be added Rs 500 disbursed by the Mauritius Revenue authority through the Negative Income Tax scheme announced by the Government. In a sense it is the population that is contributing the Rs 500 through payment of taxes.

In so doing, Government has given a signal and agreed that Rs 9,000 should be the minimum salary for workers of the country.

Complaints regarding non observance of government's decision

Unfortunately in Mauritius, a lot of people find the means to bypass the law for many reasons, one of them being the greed for more money for them. The Minister of Labour and Industrial Relations Soodesh Callychurn has boldly announced measures to ensure that all employers comply with the law.

It is hoped that these actions will bear fruits. Unfortunately many employers, besides not complying with the law, are also using dishonest means to avoid paying more to their employees.

The fact that the payment of the National Minimum Wage is discriminatory against foreign workers can have a bearing on the employment of the latter in future.

What next?

Once the issue of non compliance is sorted out, the NRB should now review the salary structure of all categories of workers within its jurisdiction. In the same manner, the Pay Research Bureau should adjust all salaries as the payment of National Minimum Wage has disturbed relativity within the public sector as well as all parastatal bodies, municipalities and local authorities.

The SEF, State Employees Federation, had a meeting this week with the Minister of Civil Service, Eddy Boisseson,  to discuss the forward on this issue. We would also seek clarification with the Minister regarding the salaries of General workers in Government.

According to our information, instead of reviewing their salary scale, government has given an allowance to newly recruited general workers. Government should set a good example for others to follow suit.