500 companies have registered, half of government target, says Sim
KUALA LUMPUR: The three-month Progressive Wage Policy (PWP) pilot project, scheduled for June to August, is likely to be continued for a year until June 2025.
“The PWP just opened for registration on June 1. So far, about 500 companies have registered their interest,” said Steven Sim.
“We are targeting about 1,000 companies and our goal is for the PWP to go on for at least a year,” the Human Resources Minister told reporters after attending a townhall session on the PWP here yesterday.
He said companies that have registered will be given confirmation of their participation within a week or two.
The PWP is meant to see an increase in wages for employees earning between RM1,500 and RM4,999.
Selected companies will receive incentives of up to RM200 per month for each employee in the entry level group, and up to RM300 per month in the non-entry level group.
The government has set aside RM50mil for the PWP pilot project.
The project is open to the construction, manufacturing, wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles, information and communication, and professional, scientific, and technical activities.
However, companies taking part in the PWP need to provide documentation confirming that the employees have attended and completed skill enhancement courses and training for at least 21 hours (in three days) between January and August this year.
Earlier, during the townhall session, Sim said that multinational and foreign companies were not eligible to participate in the PWP.
“The emphasis is on local companies, particularly small and medium enterprises (SMEs),” he said when responding to questions.
The pilot project, he said, was aimed at identifying shortcomings of the PWP at the implementation stage during the next three months.
“This will be trial period to see if we need to make adjustments over teething problems,” he said.
This includes increasing the RM50mil allocation, he added.
The PWP will complement existing wage initiatives like the Minimum Wage Order (MWO) and the Productivity Linked-Wage System (PLWS).
On the MWO, Sim said that the findings on minimum wages have been finalised and will be discussed by the tripartite National Wages Consultative Council later this month.
However, he said that there may be some delays in the matter due to internal disputes within the Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC).
The National Wages Consultative Council Act requires a review of the minimum wage every two years. The last time the government reviewed the minimum wage was in May 2022, increasing it from RM1,200 to RM1,500.
